Plan B
by Newterino
Summary: The masked man ends up killing Kushina and the baby Naruto inside her. Stuck without any other options, the Yondaime is forced to seal the Nine-Tails into someone else. AU, OC protagonist done right.
1. Yondaime's Last Resort

Everything related to Naruto is owned by Kishimoto, the man who somehow hasn't run out of sharks to jump.

* * *

**Chapter One: Yondaime's Last Resort**

* * *

Minato Namikaze was having a pretty good day.

"Push!"

"HAAAAAAA!"

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was thriving more than ever before under his watch, the paperwork had been mild, and he was about to become a father to boot!

"Push!"

"GRRRRAAAAAA! GOD! THIS IS YOUR FAULT, MINATOOOO!"

Holding the seal in place was surprisingly easy. All he had to do was place a few fingers here and there for as long as this supposed 'all-consuming pain' lasted. And to think that a few gentle taps on his wife's stomach could hold back the most powerful demon in existence.

Then again, sealing arts in general weren't something to sneeze at, especially the Uzumaki variety. The clan of red-heads his wife originated from really knew their stuff, most likely surpassing the rest of the Elemental Nations put together by a considerable margin. Too bad most of them were dead.

At least Kushina had been able to leave just before her clan got wiped out. Not that he didn't feel bad for her, but Minato couldn't deny that her convenient escape from that massacre eventually led to the happiest years of his life. He was sure she loved him as much as he did her.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME!? I WILL RIP OUT YOUR—"

Whatever it was that his beloved was about to say, it was cut off by a sudden jerk inside her belly. It must've felt terrible. Kushina was usually so strong when it came to this kind of stuff.

Good. His eardrums needed a break.

Giving her a dashing smile, one that he knew Kushina would've usually made fun of for highlighting his more feminine features, the Yondaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf made an opening between two of the fingers covering his face. He only needed one hand for the seal, which was convenient, because otherwise he would've needed to use his headband like Kakashi, and it would be a cold day in hell before he started mimicking his student instead of it being the other way around. Then again, maybe he didn't need to cover his eyes at all?

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT _FUCKING_ SMILE!"

Never mind. He definitely didn't want to know what was going on down there.

"You're the one who wanted a kid, remember?" Minato said, absently trailing his index finger around the seal on her belly, tightening it's hold on the power it had trapped inside. It wasn't _his_ fault this was happening. Months of wanting to 'take the next step' and this was how she reacted right when they were about to do it?

He was joking, of course, and Kushina knew the chipper tone he liked to use when doing so, but all her humor had left her at that point. She didn't say anything, instead focusing on having her child and getting it over with already.

Biwako, Kishina's midwife and wife to his predecessor, had no such restrictions. "Stop running your mouth, Minato-kun. I'd like to see you try your hand at childbirth."

The mere thought of it made the Hokage grimace. "No thanks. I think I'll leave that to you gals."

Just then, Minato's trained ears picked up a sharp thud from outside.

Now, that shouldn't of been anything to worry about. After all, he had made sure that the birth of his son was done in a secret location, inside a cave, away from the village, with several ANBU squads surrounding and guarding the entrance, which was filled with traps of all kinds that would make even the most elite ninja flinch, which were themselves only the second line of defense, right after one of the strongest barrier techniques he knew. Even then, such an inconsequential sound could've been anything, from a wild animal to one of the ANBU being less careful than they should be. But he didn't become Hokage without a healthy amount of paranoia, so even with all that, Minato decided to play it safe.

He made sure that the seal was stable enough for him to step away for a few moments, and turned away. "I'm gonna go check that out," the Hokage said, as he was sure he wasn't the only one to hear the noise. "Be right back."

The blond walked over to the entrance of the cave, and it didn't take long for him to notice that all the elite black-ops ninja he had set up there were dead, even with their bodies hidden in the shadows. Without missing a beat, Minato turned around and was met with the sight of Biwako laying on the ground, a kunai buried into her skull, and an empty bed where his wife was not a minute before.

_How?_ After all the weeks of preparation, all the defensive lines he'd assembled had somehow been breached. Whoever was behind this had even gotten past _him_. It was almost like the culprit popped inside, took Kushina, and popped right out.

He considered using the Hirashin seal placed on Kushina, but decided to save it and catch whoever was behind all of this off guard. Instead, Minato sought out the overbearing energy that everyone for kilometers upon kilometers away could surely feel, and teleported to the perimeter seal nearest to that location. An instant later, he found himself in a forest clearing, his wife trembling in the arms of the enemy, a kunai held against her neck.

The man wore a simple black hood, with a mask that covered his entire face, save for his right eye. All in all, it hid nearly everything about his identity.

"Yondaime..." The man's voice was deep, but it didn't sound all that natural. It was probably artificial, an attempt to intimidate others. "I expected this to be harder than it was, but you gave me more time than I could've asked for. You _were_ always too careful for your own good."

Minato thought he heard a sliver of amusement at the end there, but it didn't matter. "You sound like you know me, but I don't think I've ever met you. The mask isn't really helping, either."

Even as he said this, the Hokage scanned the man for weapons. It was hard to spot anything under that robe, but he could make out some faint bumps along his arms. Probably chains, god knows he's had his fair share of them, considering who he was married to. Despite this, he would have to be ready for anything. Kushina was trying to be calm, he knew, but she was going through labor, not to mention whatever this man had done to her in the short amount of time she'd been held captive. His family was on the line. The next few seconds were crucial.

"I don't think you'd like to see what's behind this—"

Minato didn't let him finish, and teleported to the Hirashin seal placed on his wife. To his credit, the masked man immediately jumped back, letting go of Kushina in the process. The blond caught his red-headed partner before she could fall to the ground, holding one of his infamous tri-pronged kunai at the ready. Kushina was shaking, her teeth clenched in pain and fatigue.

"M-Minato... The Nine-Tails... H-H-He..."

She didn't need to say anything more. Even at a glance, the sealing master could tell that Kushina wasn't a Jinchuuriki anymore. The extraction must've taken its toll on her, if the pale white skin she had meant anything.

_The Nine-Tails gone, a mysterious enemy, Biwako and all the ANBU dead, and to top it all off, Kushina's still in labor and could die at any moment. God really fucked me today, huh?_

It took all of his mental fortification to not break under all the pressure, but Minato was Hokage for a reason. First thing's first, it was time to take his wife somewhere safe. All he had to do was focus on the Hirashin seal he had at a safe house not far from the village.

At that moment, a callous voice reached his ear. "About to make your escape, right?"

Minato immediately jumped away, Kushina in his arms, his training being almost overridden by the complete bafflement that overtook him. He had been sure that the masked man was in front of him when he closed his eyes for the half second it would take to flash to his safe house. The man's presence didn't move either, it just... disappeared and reappeared right behind him.

It seemed that he wasn't the only ninja around who could teleport. That explained how he had gotten past all of Minato's defenses. It also threw his plans of getting Kushina to a secure location out the window. He didn't know what kind of space-time technique this was, and for all he knew the man could reach him anywhere on a whim. There was nothing for it, then. He had to fight.

Minato lay Kushina on the ground and ran at the man with his own formidable speed, his kunai set to rip through the man's throat. The man also readied a blade, about to throw it, but it was already too late. He'd be dead before he could do anything.

But, when the Kage stabbed his weapon into his enemy's neck, the masked man didn't die. His kunai phased right through, as if the man wasn't there at all.

_What!?_

In his surprise at seeing something he previously thought was impossible, Minato stumbled forward. It was barely a step, an infinitely small moment of hesitation as his body passed through his opponent's.

That was all the masked man needed.

The mysterious assailant released his hold on his own kunai, and it cut the air in a flash. The sharp sound of steel sailing the winds seemed to fill the otherwise silent clearing, and the following thump brought everything else to a screeching halt.

Minato felt it, or rather, he stopped feeling it. That overpowering presence that was her chakra. Her ragged breath. Her desperate support. Gone.

And his son...

The Hokage of Konoha turned, and he saw his wife, her wide eyes staring back at him, and the kunai that had stabbed through her stomach.

And then, he was the angriest he'd ever been in his entire life. Quick as a whip, he threw a Hirashin kunai at the back of the man's head, only to see it phase through. It was a good thing he had been expecting that.

Just as his signature weapon came out the other side, Minato flashed to it, appearing right in front of the masked face of the person he'd just swore to kill, and with all his rage, all his earth-shattering, soul-consuming fury, proceeded to slap the shit out of him. The attack didn't do as much as a good old punch would've, and only snapped the guy's head back, but it did the job.

The masked man, not having expected that, could only pause for a brief second. It passed though, and he knew that it would be best if he left as soon as possible. "Sorry to cut things short, but I've got an appointment. The Leaf won't destroy itself, after all."

With that, reality warped around the mask's empty eye-hole, sucking in the man and taking him away.

Minato kneeled on the ground, slumped over. To think that just a few minutes before, he had been about to become a proud father. There was no reason to check for a pulse, because he knew. He knew that everything he had was just taken away from him.

His eyes hardened. _Not everything._ The masked man talked about destroying the Leaf. After extracting the Nine-Tails, it didn't take a genius to put two and two together. Soon enough, the world's most powerful beast would be rampaging through _his_ village, killing _his_ people.

There was no way he'd let that happen, not after all of this.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew for a fact that this day would be considered the worst in the history of the Hidden Leaf. Never had an enemy made it past the village gates, much less a tailed beast, and _much_ much less the strongest one of them all.

It had been a worrisome enough day to begin with, what with Kushina on the brink of giving birth, but the previous Hokage had convinced himself that everything would turn out alright. Minato had prepared so many safety measures that he found it hard to believe something would go wrong. Even when an unexplainable feeling of dread rattled him to his very core, he had passed it off as his well-trained paranoia.

When the Nine-Tails itself appeared in the village, already destroying every building in sight and killing civilians and ninja alike by the dozens, Hiruzen couldn't deny that something horrible had happened. He could only hope that Minato, Kishina, and most importantly his wife Biwako were still alive.

There wasn't any time to worry, though. With the Yondaime most likely busy dealing with whatever had caused this catastrophe, it was up to the retired Sandaime to protect the Hidden Leaf to the best of his ability. Strapping on his ninja gear, Hiruzen rushed out of his home.

"Sarutobi-sama."

Hiruzen grunted out a greeting to the ANBU Commander, not even flinching at how the man appeared from the shadows as he jumped from roof to roof, intent on taking on the Nine-Tails head-to-head. The coordinator of the Leaf's black-ops forces wore a plain white mask to cover his face, with no distinguishing animal traits as was tradition. He was missing the red robe he usually wore over his ANBU clothing, though Hiruzen couldn't blame him for wanting to be as free of restrictions as possible.

"Commander. What is the state of the squads sent to guard the Hokage and his wife?" Hiruzen asked, wanting to get a report as fast as possible. He could already see the giant form of the Nine-Tails in the distance, and he needed to get everything ready before he got there.

"Their tattoos have been disconnected. They are most likely deceased."

That made his heart lurch, but Hiruzen forced it down. "How goes the battle?"

There wasn't any hesitation in the commander's response. "The entire western district has been destroyed. I estimate a loss of 2,500 ninja and twice that amount of civilians. Our border barrier is still up and running perfectly, and according to the surviving witnesses, the Nine-Tails arrived in an explosion of smoke, raising the possibility of it being summoned into the village."

Out of everything Hiruzen could've possibly heard, that was the absolute worst. _Summoned!?_

"There is only one man I know of with the ability to summon the Nine-Tails," he said.

With the slightest inclination of his head, the ANBU Commander nodded. "I am aware. However, that man has not been sighted, and our sensors are too overwhelmed by the Nine-Tails' chakra to properly seek out foreign signatures."

"Then there is nothing for it," Hiruzen said, his face grim. "The tailed beast attacking our village must come first. Commander, order an evacuation of all civilians, along with any ninja under the age of adulthood."

"Sir?" The commander rarely questioned the orders of his Kage, but Hiruzen figured that willingly thinning their numbers even more would raise anyone's interests.

"We will make our stand, and we will fight, but we must make sure to protect the younger generations. The will of fire has to live on no matter what."

"Understood."

"Dismissed, commander."

"Roger. And Sarutobi-sama... good luck." With nothing else left to be said, the ANBU Commander leaped away.

The retired Hokage had to smile at that, even if it was only a small quirk of his lips. It wasn't every day that the terse and cold commander of the Leaf's black-ops division let himself worry for anyone, and it spoke volumes of their long history as fellow ninja that he did so at all.

The Nine-Tails was close now, barely forty meters away. If the killing intent emanating from it had been abnormally large from a distance, it was nothing less than suffocating from as close as he was. It was a surprise that not too many ninja had passed out from the sheer intensity of it, but Hiruzen supposed it was the will of fire at work once more, Leaf ninja putting the protection of their home before their fear of death. Or maybe it was the fear of death that allowed them to stay conscious.

A throng of ninja surrounded it, trying fruitlessly to corral it away from the retreating citizens with technique after technique. All around him, homes burned in great swathes of flame. The sound of continuous explosions filled his ears. It truly pained him to see the village he loved so much be reduced to a violent war zone, but the grieving could come later. When his eyes roamed around the battlefield, Hiruzen found the man he needed.

"Fugaku!"

The head of the Uchiha clan turned, his stern face showing only the barest hint of relief. Around him, the ninja who had been busy pumping the raging demon before them with as many long distance attacks as they could paused in their attacks when they saw who had arrived, but returned to their duty after a harsh look.

"Sarutobi," the man greeted, bowing his head slightly. "I'm glad we at least have the Sandaime with us. Where's our Hokage when we need him most?"

"Never mind that. Why haven't you or your family members taken control of the Nine-Tails with your sharingan?"

The importance of the Uchiha Clan in the Hidden Leaf could not be overstated. Sure, they brought wealth and talented ninja to the village, but more importantly, without the Shodai Hokage's Wood Release, the sharingan had become the only deterrent against the Nine-Tails in case it ever escaped its host. The destruction of half the village spoke of a miscalculation of disastrous proportions.

Fugaku clicked his tongue. "We have a big problem, Sandaime. The Nine-Tails' control has already been taken ahold of. It seems that someone in my clan has decided to destroy the village."

Immediately, Hiruzen's eyes went to meet the Nine-Tails'. Squinting, he could barely make out the shape of a circular pupil surrounded by three tomoes that definitely shouldn't of been there.

Of course. It was stupid to think someone would summon something like the Nine-Tails without any way to control its actions. It was becoming more and more apparent who was behind all of this. But Hiruzen didn't want to believe it. If a man like _that_ still lived, then they were all in more danger than he could imagine.

As of now, all he could say for sure was that the culprit was most likely an Uchiha. That was as much as he was willing to admit to himself.

Beside him, Fugaku stood tense. It was to be expected, all things considered, but his tomoed eyes kept glancing at him, as if waiting for some kind of reprimand.

"It's alright, Fugaku. You and your clan's loyalty has been proven already by your actions here tonight. I'm sure this is the work of a lone traitor." _At least, I hope it is,_ Hiruzen thought. _The only other explanation is too terrifying._

His assurances got no response from the man, as the Nine-Tails chose that moment to spin around, swishing it's tsunami-creating appendages around to blow apart an entire building complex.

"Whatever the case may be, our main priority right now is the Nine-Tails itself. Stay here, and keep hammering it! Even the smallest distraction could buy us enough time!"

After hearing an affirmative, Hiruzen roof-hopped away, trying to spot the one person he needed to organize a planned counterattack. It didn't take very long, as the majority of the Yamanaka clan had a very distinct look. Even better, the village's top tactician was there as well. Inoichi Yamanaka and Shikaku Nara turned to meet the Sandaime when he reached them, their sharp senses able to pick out his presence even among the chaos that was ensuing not thirty meters away.

"Hiruzen," Shikaku drawled out, his stance the picture of nonchalance despite the gigantic tail that flattened a nearby block. "It's about time. So, what are your orders?"

The previous Hokage looked up at the Nine-Tails, not even flinching when a whole platoon of ninja got blasted away by the sheer force of one of its roars. All around them, attacks of all kinds were being thrown at the beast. Fire balls, water bullets, windmill shuriken, big boulders... It was all getting thrown at it from everywhere.

"If we are to drive this beast away from our village, we will need to make a concentrated attack," he decided. "All these techniques coming at it every which way is just annoying it at the most, like a swarm of flies. If everyone can combine their power and hit it at the same time... It's the best shot we've got."

"I agree," the Nara said. "At least until someone can seal it back up. Hopefully our Hokage can hurry up with whatever he's doing, because anything we do can only delay the inevitable."

"Then we better give him as much time as we can. Inoichi! Connect me to every ninja still standing!"

The head of the Yamanaka clan nodded as Hiruzen kneeled down in front of him. After taking a deep breath while preparing his technique, Inoichi slapped the palm of his hand against Hiruzen's forehead.

**"Mind Body Transmission!"**

Without any special preparations, the amount of chakra necessary to spread the technique so far was incredibly taxing. Inoichi probably wouldn't be able to last more than a few minutes at the most. That was all Hiruzen needed.

_Ninja of the Leaf! I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage! Cease your assault at once!_

After the telepathic command, the constant barrage of attacks stopped almost simultaneously. Without anything to keep it occupied, the Nine-Tails continued demolishing everything in its path unopposed.

Seeing the worried looks of those around him, Hiruzen beat down his own unease before assuaging their fears.

_Don't worry! Most, if not all the remaining civilians of our village have been evacuated. The demon can tear down as many buildings as it wants as long as we defeat it in the end, and to do this, we must all work together!_

He could feel everyone's spirits rise with the thousands of shouts that followed, all full of the unbreakable tenacity he expected from all Leaf ninja.

_Now let's drive this thing back! Here's the plan..._

* * *

The masked man couldn't believe how smoothly everything had gone. The Nine-Tails was under his command and destroying the Leaf, it's previous container was dead and therefore it would be impossible to seal it back into her, and he got one over on the man who many considered to be the strongest ninja in the world.

_I think I'll get myself something nice after all this,_ he decided, looking over the chaos from a tree in the outskirts of the village, right behind the Hokage Monument. _Maybe a cinnamon bun, or the severed head of that jackass who bumped into me in Rain Country. Hmm... _He'd stay there while the Leaf became an ash pile under him, call the Nine-Tails back, and leave. He already had a place in mind to teleport to.

And then Minato Namikaze was in front of him, a spiraling sphere of death in his hand. He was honestly so surprised that he didn't get the chance to even try to activate his intangibility technique. The Yondaime's attack grinded into his gut, tearing up his robe, shirt, skin, and insides, all in that order.

The technique then exploded, blasting him back in a spinning whirlwind that blew through at least six trees before slowing down enough to crash into one and cause it to splinter. Now breathing heavily, the masked man stood on a thick branch, leaning against the trunk of the seventh tree he had almost tore down with his flailing body. Standing on a branch a bit higher up than his was his assaulter, his blue eyes colder than ice.

"Damn it... I should've known it was too easy," the masked man said, looking down at his new injury. His belly was now covered with a spiraled gash that penetrated at least a full inch. _I suppose that the death of his wife and unborn son weren't enough to break him,_ he thought. _What a shame. _"That's gonna scar. Thanks a lot, now I'll have to deal with _this_ for the rest of my life."

Minato didn't even twitch, his face set in stone. "That should've killed you."

"Yeah, but... _ninja_."

No sooner had he said this, than Minato was in front of him again, another glowing blue sphere now aimed at his head. Fortunately for him he had been ready this time, so the technique phased through him and into the tree trunk behind him, destroying it in an explosion of sawdust.

The masked man swirled into being on a tree branch right across from Minato. "Oh, don't tell me you put one of those seals on my mask. Do you know how mean that is? I actually liked this one."

"You killed my family, you fucking asshole."

"But my mask!"

Again, Minato flashed in front of him, and the masked man yawned into his hand when the attempt at his life ended in failure once again. "This isn't going your way no matter how many times you try that trick, you know. Turning immaterial is just cool like that."

Seeing the furrowed brow that broke through Minato's neutral features, the man chuckled. "It must be pretty frustrating to fight someone you can't hit. I mean, not that I would know anything about that, but I feel for you."

Minato took a deep breath and fixed him with a controlled glare. For the first time since the fight started, the masked man felt himself grow nervous. An angry and wild Yondaime Hokage was easy enough to avoid getting hit by, but a Yondaime Hokage that started to actually use that head of his? There was a chance that this could end bad for him.

He didn't have much time to think on it, because the next thing he knew, a tri-pronged kunai was hurled at his head.

Clicking his tongue, the masked man let the unique weapon phase through his head. The moment he felt the kunai's hilt exit the area where his skull should've been, he let himself become material again. "Haven't you learned already, I can-"

Whatever he had been about to say was interrupted by Minato teleporting right above him, the kunai in one hand and his swirling blue technique in the other... which phased through him once more as he re-activated his intangibility in the split second it took for Minato to fall on him.

The branch he stood on was completely disintegrated by the sheer force of the technique, forcing him to jump back onto another one close by. Seeing Minato's flash of shock as the Hokage fell down onto a branch parallel to his brought on a chuckle, which quickly turned into a full-blown cackle that made him hold onto his knees to stop himself from falling over.

"HAHAHAHAAHAHA! Sorry, sorry it's just—" The masked man raised his covered face to look at Minato's scowling one, bringing him another round of laughs. "Oh god! You actually thought that would work for a second there, didn't you? Hahaha! That's just hilarious!"

The masked man calmed himself down, holding his chest as he took ragged breaths. "Man, thanks, Yondaime. I haven't had such a good laugh in a long time. Seriously, you thinking that the same 'kunai through the head' thing would work on me a second time?" He raised his hand and placed it on the marked mask. "Me, the guy who killed all your ANBU guards and captured a tailed beast in the same night?" When it came off, Minato couldn't see the face hidden in the shadows of the hood. The Yondaime stood still, knowing that any attack he tried at the moment would fail. After digging around inside his robe, the man brought out a new mask with his other hand, this one red. "Classic."

He threw his old mask away, and the two opponents stared each other down, the mask's clattering journey to the ground below being drowned out by the Nine-Tails' rampage in the distance. "Let's see, Yondaime," the man said, chains sprouting out of his overly long sleeves. "Let's see how many more jokes you've got left in you."

In almost perfect synchronization, the two jumped at each other. They met in a clash of screeching steel, kunai against chain, and fell back. As soon as the two landed on their respective tree branches, they came at each other once more, the masked man's chain now trailing behind him, held on both hands. When Minato reached him, the masked man became intangible, and the Hokage's momentum carried him through his opponent and into the waiting hold of the chain.

Not wanting to get wrapped up in the metal links, Minato flashed back to a Hirashin seal he had placed on the tree branch he had just jumped off from, facing the falling form of the masked man. Going through hand seals, he built up his chakra. _Try going through this!_ he thought, holding out his index and middle finger. **"Lightning Style: Precision Shock!"**

A thin and long ray of lightning shot out of his fingertips. He was banking on the hope that the masked man would try and phase through it, just to see if elemental techniques were useless as well, but his opponent had other ideas.

The masked man sped through his own string of hand signs and held out his palms in front of him. **"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"**

The gust of wind that came as a result easily overpowered Minato's own technique and headed on straight for him. With a burst of speed, the Yellow Flash got out of the way just before the branch he had been standing on got practically disintegrated, along with the tree it was connected to and several other trees in the surrounding area.

The Yondaime jumped onto another branch only to abandon it when a chain slammed into the bark and broke it off. The moment he landed on the side of a tree, another chain headed for him and nearly cut the tree down. The same thing happened over and over, until Minato was forced to stay on the defensive, which basically meant he had to run around and try not to get blown apart.

The masked man only had one chain per hand, but he wielded them perfectly, not giving Minato any chance to counterattack. Whenever he attacked with one, he'd pull back on the other and fling it over his head before bringing it down in quick succession. The chains were apparently extendable too, so he didn't even move from his spot on a tree branch, content with wailing on Minato from a safe distance.

Seeing this, Minato got an idea. When he next set his feet on a flat surface, this time a tall outcropping of stone that reached up through the branches, he didn't jump away as one of the chains sliced through the air towards him. Instead, he held out his hand and caught it.

Well, it wasn't really 'catching' as much as it was letting the chain slam into the palm of his hand and send him reeling off the rock and into the air. However, instead of a pain-filled grimace, Minato smirked as he twisted violently in midair. He opened a hand and activated his signature swirling technique.

When the masked man brought the chain back around over his head, Minato acted. He flashed to the Hirashin seal he had placed on one of the chain links that had most likely bruised his palm.

The masked man didn't even have time to react.

**"Rasengan!"**

The branch exploded as the sphere drilled into the masked man's back. He was then flung downwards, breaking apart everything within a five meter radius until he landed on the ground so hard that his body created a crater at least ten times his size.

He blinked, idly noting that his spinal cord was shattered. Such an injury would've usually ended any ninja's career, or any regular person's career for that matter, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd bounced back from such crippling injuries. No, the masked man was more worried about the fact that Minato had somehow figured out a way to debilitate him in the way he did.

_That's... That's just unfair,_ he thought, truly speechless. _Why can't_ my _teleportation be that cool?_

He heard Minato land next to him. "Just thought you should know, I placed a seal on you that negated whatever summoning contract you had with the Nine-Tails."

That did it. The masked man tried to laugh, but it came out as choked coughing. He'd been sure he had won just a moment before, and the Yondaime Hokage had brought him back down to earth after connecting with one move. "When... did you g-get the chance to do that?"

"Right after I finished breaking your back."

"Ah. Well... That sucks. I guess I'll have to come back for it later," the masked man said, mostly to himself. His injury wouldn't take him out forever, but there was no way he could keep fighting in the condition he was in. Lesson learned: don't get anywhere near the blue ball of death. He had known that the technique was dangerous before, but there was nothing like good old vertebrae demolition to really drive it home.

"You won't get the chance. I'm going to kill you now."

"No, you're not." That actually got Minato to pause, probably in preparation of some sort of last stand. _Hesitating dumbass._ "You know why? Because I can still do... this!"

With that, the masked man disappeared in a swirling vortex.

Minato had a long string of curses ready at seeing the man who had single handedly ruined his life get away, but the distant roars of the Nine-Tails as it kept flattening his village caught his attention.

Scowling down at the empty space where the masked man was just a second before, Minato clenched his hands. _Next time... I'll kill him without hesitation. But first..._

* * *

_Now! All Leaf forces, attack!_

With that mental command, all the remaining ninja who were well enough to fight launched a massive barrage of elemental and physical attacks right at the Nine-Tails, which was restricted in its movements by a cocoon of shadows, the entirety of the Akamichi clan holding it's tails down, and unbelievable amounts of ninja wire. The combined force of everyone's strength was enough to send the fox careening backwards over the village walls, where it stayed unmoving. Seeing this, a cheer arose from the assembled crowd.

The joy of his comrades put a bitter smile on Hiruzen's lips. Breaking off from Inoichi's technique, to which the man looked thankful, the previous village leader thought on what the next step would be. _That won't take it down for long. What should we do now? Destroy it? No, it would only come back in a few years or maybe even months. We need a long-term solution._ Looking back to the village, his smile turned grim. _Over half of the village will need serious repairs. We're all just lucky that the Nine-Tails hasn't decided to pull out any of that mountain destroying power it's said to have, or else we'd all be finished already._

"You managed to knock it back, huh?"

Hearing that voice, though noticeably more somber than usual even considering their situation, made the weight on Hiruzen's shoulders disappear. Minato was younger than him, but his mere presence radiated a level of confidence that he himself had never personally been able to acquire.

"For now, yes, but not for very long," Hiruzen said.

Minato nodded, squinting at the still form of the Nine-Tails. "That's enough to seal it into someone and be done with this."

Inoichi, who had gotten enough of his bearings back to at least stand up straight, sent his Hokage a questioning look. "Speaking of which, where's Kushina? What the hell happened to make the demon escape from the seal?"

The question only brought about a palpable silence, and right then Hiruzen knew that he and Minato had both lost their wives tonight. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clamping down on his jaw to keep it from trembling.

"... We're going to need a new jinchuuriki."

The retired Hokage nodded in agreement of the current one. He signaled one of the ANBU that littered the scene. "Get the barrier team and tell them to restrain the beast for as long as possible, got it?"

"Roger!"

After the black-ops agent sunk into the shadows, Hiruzen turned to Minato. "That won't buy us too much time. A few minutes at most before it breaks out of whatever they decide to hold it with."

Minato frowned. "I know," he said, his eyes unfocused. A second later, they were back to normal. "I'll finish this as fast as possible."

After hearing their Hokage's last promise, Inoichi and Hiruzen watched him disappear in a yellow flash.

The hospital was easy enough to find. Along with the Hokage Tower and various other buildings of tremendous importance, it was completely surrounded by a white, luminescent barrier that reached far into the sky. **The Unbreakable Wall of the Leaf's Unshakable Resolve**, as he called it (much to the chagrin of everyone else), was a barrier technique designed to protect the material necessities of the village in case of an invasion. Completed with the help of Jiraiya, Kushina, and the entire barrier team, it was nearly impenetrable, and only nearly because Minato wasn't sure how many Tailed Beast Bombs it could take before it shattered.

That is, unless the enemy knew how to use space-time techniques, in which case getting past it was easy enough.

Being the Hokage, Minato had taken the precaution of placing a Hirashin seal in every block of the village, so it didn't take him very long to walk through the doors of the hospital. As he strode through the white hallways, Minato ignored the cowering and confused doctors and nurses in favor of planning out how he would go about re-sealing the Nine-Tails into someone else.

_It'll be easier for a child to adjust than a grown adult,_ he figured, glancing at every room number he walked by. Realizing what he just thought, Minato cringed. It felt wrong to think that way, but he knew he was right. A kid could grow into their responsibility as a Jinchuuriki, while someone older would most likely refuse or turn away from it. He was sure that someone like Inoichi or Chouza would accept without question, so loyal they were to the village and to him, but they had families they needed to take care of. So it had to be a child, someone who had nothing to lose. That didn't make it easier for him to know that he was basically about to ruin someone's life before it even really began.

It couldn't be him, as the only technique he knew that could seal something like the Nine-Tails into himself would end up killing him regardless. And if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he couldn't die. The Leaf would need its leader now more than ever.

That sent him on another line of thought. He was the Hokage, and could, according to his authority, order others to do whatever he thought was best for the village. However, he didn't think he could look into a parent's eyes and order them to hand over their child to serve as a sacrifice. _An orphan then. God, I'll never be able to live with myself after all of this is over, will I?_ But who could he chose? It didn't feel right to just walk into a room full of newborn orphans and pick out whichever one he thought had the most chakra.

It would've been so much easier if... if Naruto had just been born a little sooner, or if that man had just shown up a little later. He could've sealed it inside his son knowing that he wouldn't be let down. He'd still feel terrible, but at least he would've been able to rest easy knowing he'd placed the Nine-Tails in trustworthy hands.

When Minato walked by another room, he heard a furious cough. The kind that could only mean one thing. On a whim, if only to satiate his brief curiosity before resuming his duty, the Yondaime Hokage opened the door, and changed the world forever.

* * *

Standing before the trapped Nine-Tails just outside the village walls, Minato wracked his brain for anything that could allow him to seal the beast into the newborn babe that was resting on his summoned altar. For all his knowledge of sealing, Minato had never been faced with a problem so frustratingly simple and yet difficult as this.

The Nine-Tails had _way_ too much chakra. Just a ridiculously unimaginable amount. He didn't have a seal that could contain even a little more than half of it.

He'd never thought about how difficult it must've been for the Leaf to find suitable jinchuuriki before. The first one had been so good at sealing that she made any side-effects of getting a tailed beast sealed inside her moot for all intents and purposes, doing such a good job of it that its influence was nearly nonexistent. Then Kushina came along with her convenient chakra chains, easily submitting the demon to her will. It made him wonder what the plan would've been when she had to pass it on and they'd find themselves short of any more special Uzumaki.

... Kind of like what was happening now, actually.

The obvious solution was to split the Nine-Tails in half, storing one in him and the other in the child with the **Eight Trigrams Seal** he'd been working on, but the **Dead Demon Consuming Seal** he'd have to use on himself would kill him, and he wasn't about to abandon his village in the aftermath of everything that had happened.

It was only when the beast behind him figured out what he was trying to do that he found the solution to his dilemma. It hadn't been tested, there was an approximately fifty percent chance of failure, and it could end in the Nine-Tails just getting more pissed off than it probably already was after getting mind controlled, but it was the only thing he could think of with even the slightest chance of success. Plus, by the way it was roaring its heart out inside the barrier it was contained in, the Nine-Tails couldn't get any more pissed off anyway.

The **Eight Trigrams Seal** was actually pretty simple when one looked at it from a surface level. It was just two **Four Symbols Seals** tethered together. By that logic, Minato could theoretically keep adding as many **Four Symbols Seals** as he wanted and it would all work out. Now, he was sure that each individual symbol would eventually start to negatively affect all the others the more of them he drew, but it wasn't like he'd actually go and see how many he could add before the whole matrix imploded. Sixteen trigrams shouldn't be too many, right?

It was an easy thing to draw up his half-baked idea. Each symbol had to be extremely small, considering how many there were and what he was drawing them on, but it only took him a few moments at best, as all sixteen symbols were uniform. The baby was helpful too, laying still and not squirming much. He was quiet for a newborn, with eyes opened and staring up at him, making him feel even guiltier.

He had no idea what the seal would do. The **Eight Trigrams Seal** would've slowly integrated the Nine-Tails' chakra into its jinchuuriki as time went by, and would've even allowed the jinchuuriki to use their demon's chakra in exponentially expanding amounts if they ever had the need for it, but a **Sixteen Trigrams Seal** was a complete unknown to him, at least right now when he was rushing it before the demon broke out and skewered him with one of its claws. Even now it was banging against the almost transparent wall that separated it from it's potential jail.

**"Don't you dare! I'll rip your worthless sack of a body to shreds, you hear me!?"**

Huh. The Nine-Tails could talk, apparently. He didn't know that. It was actually the first time he really got a good look at it, much less heard it speak.

**"You think that puny scrap of life can hold me back from turning this entire village into a canyon!? He is no Uzumaki! Those damned chains might've been able to restrain me, but this baby!?"**

Oh well, the seal was already done. All that was left to do was place its prisoner inside.

Minato whistled at one of he ninja holding the barrier in place. "Oi, drop it. Let it out."

The ninja spluttered, looking up at the great beast he was helping to hold back from his kneeling position. "Wh-What!? Are you sure, Hokage-sama?" Not like he could complain, since it looked liken he and the rest of the barrier team were on their last legs anyway.

"Do I look like I'm not sure? Just do it. Have some faith in your Hokage."

"Y-Yes, Hokage-sama!"

The Nine-Tails, having heard this, got ready for when the barrier was dropped. Its whole body tensed, and its glowering red eyes set themselves on the one man who could realistically stop it.

The almost invisible wall that surrounded its massive form disappeared, freeing the tailed beast. It immediately went for Minato, its claws stabbing forward, tearing through the air.

"Tch, so predictable."

With one sharp tip of a claw only millimeters away from his forehead, Minato, raised one hand towards the beast and lay the other on the newborn's stomach, his five fingers spanning the seal placed there.

The moment his hand touched the man-sized claw that had just been about to kill him, the Nine-Tails became visible chakra, passed through him, and ended up inside the seal. It was a weird feeling, having what could very well be the biggest amount of chakra to ever exist briefly inside of him. It hadn't exactly hurt, but it was _intense_. Oppressive. For a second, it had almost felt like he was about to explode, and then it was gone. _And that's what this kid will have to live with._

The danger now gone for good, the ninja barrier team that had been anxiously standing all around him finally relaxed. Actually, it felt as if the entire village could finally breathe again, as damaged as it was. The mere presence of the Nine-Tails had been enough to instantly put everyone within a thousand meter radius into fight-or-flight mode, and now that it was gone, the pure relief that spread was overwhelming.

Hiruzen reached him soon enough after that, staring intently at the bundled baby in Minato's arms. "Is that..."

"Yeah..."

It took a moment for Minato to realize that he was crying, and when he did, it all came down. With the Nine-Tails taken care of, there was nothing to hold him back from thinking of Kushina, their son who had never been given a chance, and the life he had been ready to begin. The village, or what was left of it. The countless amounts of people who had surely lost their lives. The man who had caused it all, who would surely come back for his stolen weapon one day.

Hiruzen didn't look to be doing much better, but that was okay. As the two Hokage looked on at their ruined responsibility, and thought back to their deceased loved ones, they allowed themselves to mourn.

"What is his name?"

"Hm?" Minato snapped his head down to the new jinchuuriki in his arms, who finally slept soundly.

"His name..." He knew it alright, had it branded to his memory to remember for as long as he lived. The name of the life he had sacrificed because of his duty, taken straight from the mother's lips.

"... Arashi."

* * *

**AN:**

**Yes, believe it or not someone just made a Naruto story in which Naruto dies in the first chapter and is subsequently replaced by someone else in his role as the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. Well, not really dies, since he was never technically born, but that's a whole different discussion.**

**Now, hold on with those flames, please. Before you burn me alive, let me tell you all why this came about. I've been thinking of starting this story for a while now, and kept having new ideas, so much so that even now I've got this story pretty much locked down in planning up until the end of part one at least. As I kept thinking about it, there was only one problem I ran into: Naruto. The more crap I piled on my story, the more Naruto himself didn't fit, to the point that he eventually became an OC in all but name. So, naturally, I decided that if the main character was going to basically be an OC anyway, I might as well actually go through with it.**

**Why Arashi? Well, the name had to be fit or else it would sound stupid amongst all the Hinatas and Shikamarus of the world, and I didn't want to try my hand at making up my own Japanese name, because that would've sounded even worse than if it was English. 'Arashi' is a somewhat recognizable name in Naruto fanon, it isn't taken by any canon character, and it sounds halfway decent when put next to all the others, so I went with it.**

**That's it, then. I'm done trying to justify killing off the protagonist of this entire series in the very first chapter. Don't worry, the rest of this story will hopefully more than make up for it.**

**Next time, we see the Leaf's jinchuuriki grow up in a town that seems to think he doesn't exist, the Yondaime living on when his wife and child do not, and how to skip rocks.**


	2. Ghost of the Leaf

I don't own Naruto. I don't think anyone owns Naruto, really. It's just been flailing around by itself looking for someone to tell it what to do for a while now.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Ghost of the Leaf**

* * *

A young boy wandered a small mask shop. It was otherwise empty, but that was to be expected. Masks were mostly on demand at festivals and holidays, not on a normal day in the middle of August. The silence inside was only broken by his footsteps.

His green eyes traveled up and down the racks filled with masks of all kinds. Some were vibrant and painted with a variety of colors, way too many in his opinion, and others were far too convoluted for his tastes. Brushing a stray strand of his unkept hazel hair away from his eyes, the boy found just what he was looking for.

It was a simple thing, rather boring when compared to all the others. The plain white mask only had one thing going for it: three whisker marks drawn on each cheek. He took it and examined it closely, looking for a price tag, and sighed when he didn't find one. Only the shopkeeper would know how much it cost, so with no small amount of trepidation, the boy went up to the front of the store, the mask clutched tightly in his hand.

The man behind the counter didn't even glance his way when he approached, nor when he was standing directly in front of him. Despite this, the boy held up the mask.

"Mister, how much for this one?"

The man was seated on a chair, holding up his head with the palm of his hand, his elbow against the counter, staring dully at the back of the store.

"There's no tag on it," the boy said, waving the mask in front of the man's eyes. "Mister?"

When he didn't get an answer, the boy let his arm hang back to his side. He looked down at his feet, then placed the mask with the whiskers on the counter. He wouldn't be buying it today.

Walking out of the store, the boy easily breached the throng of people that filled the street. With so many of them going about their day, he should've bumped into someone by accident, or at least brushed against one, but it never happened. He might as well have not been there.

The boy could feel himself starting to lose it. The shopkeeper had been the only person he had tried talking to in days, and the results had been the same as always. He was ignored easily, by the shopkeeper, by everyone. But was it really ignoring? Maybe they just didn't see him, and that made him feel worse.

Feeling his eyes start to prickle with tears, the boy ran into an alleyway, his head down. Why? That was the question that he'd always asked himself. It seemed like he wasn't even a person sometimes. Like he wasn't even—

"Oof!"

The next thing he knew, the boy was sitting on the dirty ground, leaning back against his hands. There was a woman in front of him in quite a similar position, and for one brief instant, their eyes met. She immediately looked down at her spilled groceries, starting to put them back inside her bag. As she did, the boy sat there, his eyes wide. She had looked at him! It was quick, and it was probably with irritation for running into her, but she had!

When the woman was standing and had everything back in order, the boy realized that he couldn't just do nothing. Quickly, he stood as well, and bowed, his legs straight and his arms tight against his sides.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!"

When he didn't get a response, the boy looked up from his bow and forgot how to breathe. The woman walked forward, and when she reached him, kept walking. She passed by him, not even turning her head his way. It was as if their clash had never happened.

He didn't look back at her. His shock kept him paralyzed, still bowed and his eyes still wide. When his brain finally came to accept what just happened, the boy fell to his knees. He held up a hand in front of his stupefied face.

_Am I here?_

His hand was shaking, but the boy kept staring at it, searching. When the shaking became too violent, he grabbed his hand with the other and held them both against him.

_I have to be._

He could barely feel the warmth of his palm. Could barely feel his heart drumming in his chest.

_I'm here... I'm really here..._

_... right?_

* * *

Inside the Hokage's office, standing in front of the wide window behind an old desk full of documents, Minato looked over his village. Reconstruction had gone well, only taking a few months to complete when it should've taken years. Of course, they did have someone who could produce endless amounts of wood, so there was that.

New buildings couldn't replace all the people who had died in the attack, however. Around one-fifth of the entire population had been killed in a single night. Nearly everyone had lost a family member or friend.

"Minato-sama, your three 'o clock is here to see you."

Minato rubbed his forehead, turning to see his assistant. "Ryuka, for the hundredth time, it's _Hokage_-sama. _Hokage_."

Ryuka was the kind of ninja that decided to follow the administrative side of things as opposed to going out in the field, but somehow, despite barely having experienced any real combat, she wasn't scared of him, even when he got mad. She hardly respected him, to be honest, and it was frustrating. What kind of subordinate treated their boss this way?

She quirked an eyebrow at him, tucking her orange hair behind her ear. "So grouchy today, Minato-sama. Something on your mind?"

He didn't answer, instead crossing his arms and sitting on the leather chair behind his desk. Ryuka hummed, getting him to look back at her again.

"What?"

"Don't tell me you're thinking about that day again," she said. "It's been six years. I don't mean to sound rude, but..."

Minato sighed, sitting down on his comfy seat behind his desk. "But what? Get over it?" He leaned forward, his fingers intertwined under his chin. "I can't get over it, Ryuka. I can't just forget everything."

"I'm not telling you to forget, it's just not healthy for you to—"

"Ryuka," he interrupted. "You said someone was here to see me? Bring them in."

She opened her mouth up to say something, but closed it and shook her head. When she left the room, Minato covered his face with his hands.

Things had been... difficult... after the Nine-Tails' attack. He'd thrown himself into his work as Hokage, trying to rebuild the village, and when that was done, he found himself with too much time. Time to mourn, time to be alone, time to think...

He still wasn't used to it. Some days he woke up smelling breakfast, only to reach the kitchen and realize that it was all just in his head. When he finished work, he would go to his house and open the door with an 'I'm home!' ready on his lips, then walk inside and find himself with no one to say it to.

Every once in a while, deep in the recesses of his mind, he wanted something bad to happen. Something to get him out of sitting and signing papers all day, listening to the elders squabble amongst themselves before shutting down whatever outrageous idea they got, having to deal with complaints from clans and ninja and civilians about the economy or a technique that needs to get banned or a zoning issue.

"Uh, Hokage-sama?"

Hearing that, Minato looked up to see one of his ninja saluting awkwardly in front of him, with Ryuka standing by the door. He must've been so deep in thought that he didn't even hear them come in.

Half of the ninja's face was bandaged, but he could still tell who it was. Iruka Umino, a chunin who had gotten in over his head on his last mission.

"Iruka," Minato nodded, getting the chunin to relax. "I assume you know why you're here today. I mean, it would be hard to forget, what with almost losing an eye and all."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," said Iruka, his head facing down at the ground.

"Your team's mission was to find and capture a missing Cloud ninja for questioning. After the enemy was secure, you were tasked with guarding her for the night. What happened?"

"I..." Iruka swallowed hard. "She said she needed water, so I gave it to her. When she drank it, she was able to attack me with a water technique and escape."

"You almost lost your eye."

The chunin nodded, closing his eye shut. "It was stupid. We failed our mission, but Hokage-sama," here Iruka opened his eye and met Minato's for the first time, "please don't put the blame on any of my teammates. It was all me."

Minato sighed deeply. Usually, something like this wouldn't warrant a meeting with the Hokage, but it had only been the latest of a long string of mistakes on Iruka's part. They all shared something in common too.

"Iruka, I'm going to put it bluntly. You're too nice."

The chunin didn't look very surprised. He had probably been thinking on it since his last mission.

"That's a great thing for you as a person, but not as a ninja," Minato continued. "You're very skilled for your station, but you're becoming a liability. Honestly, I don't know what to do with you."

"Hokage-sama, if I may," Iruka said. When Minato nodded, he stood up straighter, holding his hands behind his back. "I don't think I'm cut out for field work, maybe I never have been, but I still want to help the Leaf as much as I can. So... I want to become a teacher at the academy."

Minato blinked, and that was as far as his surprise would show. He hadn't been expecting that. "Why?"

"My parents were both ninja," Iruka said. "They were amazing. When they died on... on _that_ day... I didn't know what to do. I just cried and cried. I wanted them to be proud of me, so I signed up to be a ninja, but I wasn't very good. I couldn't understand basic techniques, I barely passed the graduation exam, and the only reason anyone remembered me was because I was the class clown."

The Yondaime felt his guilt cropping up again. The entire Nine-Tails incident could've been prevented, but he'd been too gullible, too hesitant. Iruka's parents could've still been alive.

"But then, one day I was visiting them, and the Sandaime came up to me. He told me that... the older generation passed their will onto the younger generation. Even if my parents were dead, their Will of Fire still lived on in me. I want to help the younger generation like the Sandaime helped me... Like my parents helped me..."

Minato could feel a smile form behind his hands. "The Will of Fire, huh?" Iruka was skilled enough to teach kids how to be ninja, and now he knew that the chunin was also driven. He'd probably try even if Minato refused him. "The school year starts tomorrow."

"I know, Hokage-sama."

"You'd have to start as an assistant teacher for a couple of years. You're okay with that?"

"I am."

"Good. It's eight 'o clock tomorrow, Iruka. Don't be late."

Iruka's smile brightened up the room. "Th-Thank you, Hokage-sama!"

He walked out the door shortly after, leaving Minato and Ryuka alone in the office. The Yondaime slouched on his seat, and his assistant walked over to his desk, sitting on its edge and looking down at him with a sly smile.

"You made a man very happy today, Minato-sama," Ryuka said.

Minato ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair. "Yeah, well, its good to see someone strive for the future like him. It'll be good, I can't wait to see the kids he ends up teaching."

"Strive for the future... Better than getting stuck in the past, wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess so— wait..." Minato leaned back on his seat, narrowing his eyes at her. "Oh, I see. Nice try, Ryuka."

"I'm just saying, Iruka-san seems like a very wise young man."

"Ha ha, hilarious. I don't know why I haven't fired you yet."

"You'd be lost without me, Minato-sama. Speaking of which," she glanced down at the clipboard in her arm, "we should get going. It's time."

The Hokage sat up, pushing back on his chair. "It's time? Already? Now?"

"What? Did you forget?" Ryuka made a satisfied hum, already walking over to the door. "I told you you'd be lost without me."

Minato stood up from his chair and followed her out, grabbing his Hokage robe from the coat hanger near the entrance. "Don't kid yourself, I can always get another assistant."

"But you don't."

"I keep wondering why."

* * *

With some trepidation, Minato knocked on the door. It barely made any noise in the empty and otherwise dead silent hall, so Ryuka pushed his lingering arm away and knocked on the door herself, making sure that the sound echoed.

"This is the fifth time we've visited, Minato-sama," she told him, rolling her eyes when she saw him fidget. "Don't tell me you're still nervous."

The Yondaime's expression wasn't particularly one of worry. In fact, he looked perfectly calm. However, a bead of sweat making its way down the side of his face betrayed him. "I can't help it. It's not easy for me to relax around him when I'm the one who—"

The door opened, and the two grown adults found themselves looking down at the six-year old boy on the other side. He looked at each of them in turn, neither smiling nor frowning.

"Hello, Ryuka-san, Hokage-sama."

The greeting was stiffly said. Obviously, the boy wasn't yet used to the arrangement. Minato felt his words catch in his throat, taking a step backwards. Ryuka, though, didn't let it get to her. She knelt down in front of the boy and ran her hand through his hazel colored hair, managing to get an uncomfortable blush out of him.

"Arashi-kun, didn't I tell you last time that you needed a haircut? Look, it's already reached past your eyes!"

"R-Ryuka-saaan," whined Arashi, trying to back away, but she wouldn't let him off that easily.

"Not so fast, mister! If you can't take responsibility for yourself, I guess it's up to me to make you look presentable."

And with that, Ryuka led Arashi inside. The boy tried to act as of he didn't want to follow, but Minato got the feeling that he secretly liked the attention. Seeing as he was the last one left, the Yondaime went inside the apartment as well.

The apartment itself wasn't very big, but it was enough to comfortably house the one occupant who lived inside. It was relatively clean, not having any trash laying around, but Minato could pick out some dust here and there that would need to get swiped off with a broom. The furniture looked well taken care of, though the Hokage figured with a small pang of guilt that it might've been more because no one ever sat on it than because of constant upkeep. All around, it wasn't bad at all. For a six year old, Arashi seemed like he could take care of himself. Minato just wished that he didn't have to do it in the first place.

Ryuka led Arashi to the bathroom, holding a pair of scissors and a comb. "Minato-sama, why don't you get lunch started? I won't take long."

The Yondaime grunted, shooting her an annoyed frown. "You want _me_ to do the cooking? Who's the assistant around here again?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that the famed Yellow Flash was afraid of a stove."

"Fine! Just don't expect a raise anytime soon!"

Moving into the kitchen, Minato immediately went for the fridge, hoping that there would be something quick and easy so that he wouldn't have to turn anything on and risk setting the whole building on fire. Years of ninja training and then his duties as Hokage had left him little time to learn the culinary arts.

Luckily for him, he found something that he thought he could get right. As he chopped a carrot into several small pieces, Minato could hear Ryuka and Arashi talking from inside the bathroom. He couldn't make out the words and was unwilling to sharpen his hearing for the sake of their privacy, but the sound of their muffled voices brought about a strange sensation.

Was this how things could've been? Him trying to cook something up while Kushina sat Naruto down and gave him a haircut? It sounded like something she'd do, not trusting anyone else with scissors near her son. Naruto would've been about six years old too. Getting lost in the rhythmic thud of the knife going through the vegetable, Minato almost smiled at the fantasy of another life...

And then he ran out of carrot to cut up, bringing him back into reality. He slowly let go of the knife, his breathing coming out in short and quick gasps, and gripped the edge of the kitchen table with both hands. Minato leaned heavily on it, his head down.

A few minutes later, he found himself sitting anxiously on the couch. Just as he was about to cross and uncross his legs for the tenth time, Ryuka got out of the bathroom looking rather glum and closed the door behind her before the sounds of falling water droplets reached his ears.

"I had him take a shower," his assistant explained as she took a seat next to him. "It'll get rid of all those hair strands that probably got stuck on his head. That and he smelled kinda funky."

Ryuka then slumped forward, cradling her cheek. Frowning, Minato leaned down with her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong? Don't tell me you're tired already."

"It's not that, it's... him. Arashi." Her hands went to her knees, forming into tight fists. "Those people... Minato-sama..."

The Yondaime closed his eyes, sighing. "Ryuka..."

"He didn't talk all that much about it. Barely two words, but I could tell just by looking at him. He's... breaking, Minato-sama. It's not fair. It's not."

"I know already, don't you think? I'm the one who—"

"No! You are not making this about you and your stupid guilt trip!" She spoke in an angry whisper, as if she was afraid that Arashi would somehow be listening in to what they were talking about over the sound of the shower. "You feel bad for screwing him over? Then do something about it!"

Minato stood, his fists shaking and his arms stiff. "And what do you want me to do, Ryuka?"

The Hokage's assistant got up as well and stomped her way over to him, getting right in his face. "How about you actually use those Hokage powers you always complain about!? You're the boss, aren't you? They'll have to listen!"

"What am I gonna say, huh? _Please be nice to him and be his friend?_ Just because I'm the Hokage, it doesn't mean I can change how people feel!" Minato turned around and took a few steps away from her, dragging his fingers down his face to rest on his chin. "Even if I did order them to like him, it's not like they actually would. There's no switch that they can just turn off and suddenly not be angry and afraid. It's not that easy."

Ryuka crossed her arms and rested her head on her chest. "But we have to do _something_. He needs something to just... I don't know... I don't know, Minato-sama."

Minato didn't say anything. _I don't know either._ Silence fell upon them, the only sounds coming from the muted shower head in the bathroom and the light sizzling coming from the kitchen. Speaking of which...

The Yondaime sniffed, his eyebrow raised. "Hey, do you smell something burning?"

That's when smoke began to obscure the ceiling.

* * *

The fire didn't spread too far, fortunately for Arashi, who would've had to deal with a ruined kitchen, and Minato, who would've had to pay for it. Any chance of having a nice, home cooked lunch had been ruined however, so the three of them settled for takeout.

Eating on the small dinner table just outside his kitchen, Arashi tried not to be too obvious as he stole glances at the two people sitting across from him. It was surreal, having the leader of the village come to his apartment and then proceed to almost burn it down. He figured he should've been a little angry, especially considering that he'd gotten his own place just a few weeks before, but he couldn't bring himself to resent the man after he had tried to cook for him.

His head felt lighter, his hair now barely reaching his eyebrows and only managing to cover the very tips of his ears instead of completely engulfing them. He didn't know if it looked any better, but it certainly felt better. Having other people take care of him for once was great.

The Hokage and his assistant were new, having suddenly shown up one day at the orphanage to offer him a place to stay. At first, he had liked to pretend that it was adoption, but when he found himself alone for the most part, Arashi decided it wasn't anything close to that. Still, they visited him every once in a while, and he found himself looking forward to the next time he could open the front door and find them on the other side. At the very least, he could have someone to talk to. Or to look at him.

Ryuka hummed as she slurped on her ramen straight out of the box. "This is good! We should've just done this from the very beginning instead of you almost killing all of us, Minato-sama."

"Hey, it was your idea, remember?" Minato was much less enthusiastic about eating his own food, prodding at it with his chopsticks. "And this stuff is terrible for you. I don't know how you can keep shoveling it down your throat without bloating up like a balloon."

"You're exaggerating, Minato-sama. The taste makes up for the calories." She held out the box in her hand, wiggling it suggestively at Arashi. "Am I right or am I right, Arashi?"

Minato sighed, exasperated. "Seriously? Poisoning a six year old?"

"Junk food isn't poisonous!"

Arashi looked at the noodles, then at the rice balls and chicken on his plate, and then back at the noodles. Shrugging, he went ahead and tried it.

"Muahahaha! Now you're one of us!"

"You're impossible."

Grimacing, Arashi swallowed the last of it and grabbed his cup of water, taking a few long gulps to wash away the taste. Looking at Ryuka's smirking face, he frowned. "I don't like it."

That comment was like a shot through the heart. Ryuka's jaw didn't exactly hit the table, but Arashi suspected that was only because it was connected to the rest of her head. Minato, on the other hand, tried his best to hide his snicker behind his hand.

"Wh-What!? You don't like it!?"

"No. Too noodley."

"But that's not even a word!" Minato couldn't hold back his following bark of laughter. His assistant immediately rounded on him. "You shut up!" she huffed, scrunching up her shoulders and slurping up her noodles on her own, a scowl plastered on her face.

Arashi eyed Minato, not wanting to look too curious. From all the times he'd seen the man, laughing didn't seem like his shtick. The Yondaime always gave off a more somber vibe, especially around him.

Minato's eyes met his, and whatever good humor he had vanished. "Arashi, there's something we have to talk about."

The boy nodded, putting down his chopsticks. Ryuka also stopped eating, glancing sideways at her boss. He sat with his hands on his chin, as if he were in a meeting with one of his ninja.

"You probably didn't know this, but the Ninja Academy school year starts tomorrow," he said. "You're old enough now to sign up for it."

Arashi found himself without a clue as to what to say. He'd considered being a ninja before, it was hard not to when living in a village where at least a third of the overall population was made up of them. But whenever he spotted one of them bounding across rooftops, he'd always felt that they were so far away. They seemed so strong, so big, and he was none of those things. Yet here was the Hokage himself offering him the opportunity.

"You... You want me to be a ninja?"

_What else could you be?_ Minato thought. As a jinchuuriki, he was sort of expected to become a ninja. Even then, it wasn't like anyone would teach Arashi how to be a carpenter. Or a merchant. Or anything that didn't involve killing people, really. He knew that some would complain, but he'd do everything in his power to at least give the boy a chance.

"It's your decision," he said. Arashi looked like he was struggling with himself, so Minato quickly added, "It isn't like you sign up and then you're stuck, Arashi. You can just go for a day and quit if you don't like it. At least try it out."

Arashi hesitantly nodded once, before picking up his chopsticks and filling his mouth with food. Looking at Ryuka next to him, her deadpan expression seemed to say, _You're such a buzzkill, you know that?_ but Minato only gave her a shrug.

In the pit of his stomach, Arashi felt... something. Like the food he ate came to life and started banging on the walls of his belly trying to get out. He didn't think the feeling would go away anytime soon.

* * *

Arashi wasn't hiding from anyone. He told himself that even as he ducked behind an oak tree, peeking out of the edge to look at the big crowd that formed at the entrance of the academy. Parents, both civilian and ninja alike, dropped off their children with hugs and kisses and promises to come back and pick them up. A few of the academy teachers greeted some of the older students, and met the new ones.

He was sure that if he got out from behind that tree and went over, nothing would change. They'd keep going with the goodbyes and the joviality. He just wouldn't be a part of it.

But he wasn't hiding. It's not like he really needed to anyway. And weren't ninja _supposed_ to stick to the shadows? He was already way ahead of his classmates in that regard, right?

Eventually, the crowd dispersed. Students and teachers began to make their way inside, and Arashi knew that he couldn't stay there and clutch his bag like a lifeline any longer. He'd have to go to class... a big room full of people who wouldn't notice him in the least.

God, that sounded horrible. It was bad enough when it happened by passing as he walked down the street, but now he'd be forcing himself to be in that position, continuously, for eight hours, by at least thirty kids his age. He was already starting to regret coming here. _Just one day... _Arashi hadn't exactly promised the Hokage, but he didn't want to disappoint the one guy who seemed to care about what happened to him. _Just one day and I'm never coming back here again._

It was surprisingly easy to find his classroom. Ryuka kept telling him that his biggest problem would be just getting around the place, something she had learned during her own time in the academy. That meant she was either lying for some reason, or she was one heck of a scatterbrain when she was younger. Actually, that made complete sense now that he thought about it.

Shaking his head, Arashi stared down the door marked 106. The fluttery feeling in his stomach had come back with a vengeance. Well, it hadn't gone away exactly, but he'd managed to tone it down to a dull thumping before falling asleep the night before. All those efforts were in vain, it seemed. With one last shaky sigh, he placed a hand on the handle, turned it, and pushed.

Most of the kids sitting down turned their heads. In fact, everyone probably at least glanced up at him. He knew they did, eye contact was made for half a second before they all awkwardly went back to what they were all doing.

And just like that, he calmed down.

There wasn't any point in being nervous or whatever. _They_ sure weren't nervous about meeting him. They didn't feel anything about meeting him. Somehow, that made it easier. Not better, but easier.

Arashi looked around the room as he slowly traveled down the stairs. It was big, that was for sure, but somewhat empty, which made sense, as there were still a few minutes left before class was supposed to start. All three rows of long desks placed on either side of the steps had at least one seat without anyone sitting on it. He could pick whatever seat he wanted.

In the end, he sat on a chair close to the window. The only other person sitting at his desk was some black haired kid too busy looking outside to notice that someone had sat beside him. Arashi didn't even try to introduce himself.

After that, things went by at a relatively slow pace. The rest of the class eventually showed up and filled the room before the teacher finally arrived. For a ninja, the man was surprisingly bulky, and talked so fast that Arashi completely missed his name.

After checking the attendance, the man went on and on about what it meant to be a ninja, what their duties would be for their years at the academy, the competition for who would end up being Rookie of the Year when they graduated... It was all too much too soon and Arashi could already feel his head starting to hurt, and looking around the room, he could tell that everyone else felt about the same. The kid next to him seemed to perk up at the last point, though. _At least one of us is looking forward to this._

With his introduction complete, the sensei began a long lecture about... something. Arashi stopped paying attention after realizing that all they would do until the end of the day was sit there and listen to some guy talk to them about being ninjas. What kind of torture was this? Who thought that it would be a good idea to sit a bunch of six-year-olds down and force them to do absolutely nothing but hear someone speak?

Their future subjects, the proper way to hold a kunai without stabbing themselves, the consequences that would befall them should they ever stab someone else, and worst of all, the ninja rules.

A ninja must show no weakness, a ninja must always follow orders, a ninja must fight for their village, a ninja must always put the mission before anything else, a ninja must never show their tears, a ninja must always be prepared- God, it was maddening! What kind of rules were these?

Even when they went outside to the training yard, they weren't allowed to do anything. They were considered too inexperienced to hold anything pointy, so the class just stood back and watched as their sensei threw some shuriken at a target. Most of them oohed and wowed at the appropriate times. Even Arashi had to admit that it looked cool when the man hit the target after twirling around.

The only one who didn't seem all that impressed was that same kid from before. If anything, he looked amused, like he knew a secret no one else did. Whenever their sensei showed off another move, the kid would almost chuckle at the reactions it got from everyone.

The teacher eventually picked up on this. "Oh? Is there something funny, Uchiha-kun?"

As one, everyone's heads snapped towards the boy. Even with the attention of the entire class bearing down on him, he didn't look very nervous. In fact, he looked quite pleased. Arashi watched on from the back, his hands twitching in his pockets. How irritating it was to see someone who was able to get all their eyes on him without even an ounce of effort.

"Yeah, actually," the Uchiha said, his voice carrying only a hint of amusement. "You're spinning around and doing all this fancy stuff, but you haven't hit the bulls-eye even once."

It was true. The target had many kunai and shiruken stabbed into it, but none of them were inside the inner circle. All the kids gasped, only now noticing it.

"It's a waste of movement, at least that's what my brother would say," he almost mocked. "You'd do better if you stopped showing off so much."

The class snickered as their sensei stammered. "Y-You think so, huh!?" He held out a kunai by the tip, presenting its handle to the young Uchiha. "How about you show the class how to properly throw a weapon, then? I'm sure that someone as skilled as you can surely make a perfect shot."

It was petty. Arashi understood that. Still... a part of him kind of wanted to see his classmate trip on his own feet. It might've been mean, but there was just something about that guy that he didn't like.

Without missing a beat, the Uchiha walked up to his 'teacher' and snatched the kunai right out of his hand. "I'm not as good as my bro, but I think I can handle it," he said, getting into position a few meters away from the target, a little further than the sensei himself. He then twisted his hand and casually tossed the kunai without any effort being placed on the rest of his arm. With a heavy thunk, it stuck itself against the target, right in the center.

Arashi had to give his grudging respect as his peers all gasped and cheered, with whispers of 'cool' and 'genius' mixed in. One of the students reacted quite differently, however, pushing his way to the front and pointing an accusing finger. Arashi hadn't really paid much attention when attendance was being called out, so he didn't know the kid's name, but he noted the red markings on his face and... were those fangs?

"Hey, wait a minute!" the boy called. "That was just lucky! There's no way you could do that ag—"

There was another thunk, and a second kunai was suddenly stabbed into the target, right next to the first one. The strange boy with markings on his face seemed to freeze. "... H... How?"

The Uchiha shrugged. "It's all in the wrist."

Arashi watched as the class crowded around the kid. _That guy... _He suddenly understood what it was about the other boy that bothered him so much.

_I wish I had what that guy did..._

* * *

A few hours later, Arashi walked along a dirt road back to his small apartment. There was a river running parallel to the road, just down a small grassy hill.

The day had been... well, not exactly bad, but just kind of average. Then again, average for him was bad anyway. He already knew that he wasn't going back there again. Arashi might've considered putting up with all the kids trying desperately to look anywhere but at him if he actually wanted to be a ninja, but he didn't see the point in it.

It was calming, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Being a ninja would mean having to deal with so much responsibility, and he just didn't care. He didn't care about fighting or protecting the village. _Why should I? No one here cares about me._

Maybe that's why it was such a relief to drop out of the academy, even if it was after just one day. He was tired of trying to get others to notice him. It was exhausting, and it never worked, and it only ever ended with him getting all worked up over it. He was tired of caring.

Briefly, an image of him staring back at himself in front of a mirror with Ryuka fussing over his hair flashed by his mind, but it was discarded just as quickly as it came. She was the Hokage's assistant, and the Hokage was supposed to watch over everyone in the village. It wasn't like the Hokage cared about him personally, he was just doing his job.

No, the only one who seemed to really care about him was himself. No one was ever going to accept him, he'd known that ever since he could remember. _I should just give up on them. I don't need anyone else._

The road he was on was empty. It was in the outskirts of the village, so it was to be expected. As alone as he was, it wasn't very different from walking around in the main street. There were just less people in the way. Less obstacles.

It was comforting.

But then a sound snapped him out of his thoughts. Shouting, or grunting. Whoever it was, they sounded really frustrated. Arashi looked down the hill at the shore of the river, and found the culprit. Someone was standing on the rocky surface. Someone young.

_Is that... _Arashi came closer, careful to not make any sound as he tip-toed down the hill.

"Come on. Come _on_!" Arashi heard them say. They then threw something at the river's surface, and groaned when it sank down. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

No way. It was that Uchiha kid from before. Was he... Was he throwing rocks into the river? No, there had to be more to it than that.

The boy threw another stone, and it managed to stay afloat for a split second before sinking like the other one. "No! Stupid thing!"

Arashi was at the edge of the river's rocky shore now. Years later, he would look back on it and wonder why he did what he did. He could of just as easily walked away and shut himself inside for the rest of his life, away from everyone. But instead, Arashi bent down, picked up a stone, and threw it.

The rock skipped on the water's surface three times before it sank. Immediately, the Uchiha in front of him twisted around to face him.

Arashi regarded him with surprise. He was still shocked at his own spontaneous decision to get involved, but he managed to compose himself enough to ask, "Th-That's what you wanted to do, right?" The other boy nodded, and Arashi had to stop himself from openly gaping. _A response?_

"How did you do that!?"

The intensity of that question made Arashi step back. "Uh... I dunno. It's pretty easy."

"... Please?" It was said so hesitantly that Arashi had to wonder if the Uchiha had ever asked anyone that in his entire life.

"I... How don't you know? I mean, I thought you were some kind of genius."

The Uchiha cringed at that. "Oh, you're from my class, right? I think I remember you now."

Arashi nodded, making the other boy grunt. "My brother's the genius of my family, he just teaches me how to do stuff sometimes. But he won't tell me what I'm doing wrong with this for some reason. He's so... _annoying_ sometimes, you know?"

He couldn't say that he did, but shrugged nonetheless. That strange feeling from before was building up in his stomach again. He hated that feeling, and he knew that it would go away if he left. But something compelled him to stay. Maybe it was the fact that he was managing to hold an actual conversation for the first time with someone who wasn't way older than him.

"Maybe you aren't throwing it hard enough..."

"I'm throwing it super hard!"

"Are you throwing it right at the water?"

"No, I know that it has to be horizonal."

"Horizontal."

"Yeah, that. Whatever, I know that already."

"You're making sure it lands on the smooth part, right?"

"..."

"... Right?"

"... Uh..."

"Are... Are you stupid?"

The Uchiha glared at him. "Hey, don't call me stupid, you... you loser!"

Arashi glared right back, more out of annoyance than actual anger. "But that's, like, the most obvious part!"

"_You're_ the most obvious part!"

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"_You_ don't make any sense!"

"Oh yeah? Try it, then!"

"I will!"

With that, the Uchiha turned around, pulled back his arm, and tossed the stone in one fluid motion, making sure to keep the smooth side on the bottom. It skipped on the river four times.

Arashi crossed his arms, watching as the Uchiha stayed frozen in a throwing position. They stood like that for a solid ten seconds before Arashi decided he didn't want to deal with the other boy anymore.

He was already halfway up the hill when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"... Home."

"Oh..." The Uchiha scratched the back of his black hair. "Well, thanks. For showing me how to do it right, I mean. I'm sorry I was a jerk."

Arashi stared at him, confused. Someone was apologizing to him?

"By the way, what's your name? Mine's Sasuke."

"I..." The feeling was stronger than it had ever been before, like he was about to explode. But it felt... good. "My name's Arashi."

For some reason, Sasuke grinned. He held out his hand, a rock grasped tightly in his fingers. "Okay, Arashi. Now that I know how to do this, I bet I can skip it more than you!"

"Y-Yeah right..."

Sasuke took off back down to the river, looking back with a smirk. "I'll prove it!"

Arashi watched him go, feeling a strange tightness in his cheeks. When he put a hand on one of them he realized he was smiling.

"Are you coming, or are you scared that I'll kick your butt!?"

Without a second thought, Arashi ran down the hill.

* * *

"Minato-sama! Are you alright!?"

The Yondaime stopped looking over the village, throwing his assistant a curious glance. "What? Do I look sick or something?"

Ryuka closed the door behind her with one of her feet, her hands too occupied with a monstrous stack of papers. Walking over to him, she placed the stack on his desk, eliciting from it a noisy creak.

"No, it's not that, it's just... There's something on your face."

"Huh?" Minato felt around with a hand, but found nothing strange. "What do you mean, Ryuka?"

"You're... You're actually smiling..."

Minato deadpanned. "... Seriously?"

"Are you the real Minato-sama?"

"I can smile, Ryuka."

"It looks so out of place!"

"Your image of me is rather depressing."

Ryuka was grinning now, but Minato didn't need to see that to know that she had been joking the whole time after all. "Well, you _are_ a rather depressing man, Minato-sama," she said, sitting on the edge of his desk. "So what happened? Did you finally get someone to fix your head in the Hokage Monument?"

"It could be that I'm happy because I finally found your replacement," he suggested, but she merely scoffed at that. "And for your information, my head in the monument looks perfectly fine."

"It looks nothing like you, Minato-sama."

"Anyway," he said, waving his hand. "The real reason I'm... satisfied. Not happy, mind you, but satisfied—"

"Sure."

"The reason is, Arashi paid me a visit while you were gone."

"Oh? What did he want to talk about?"

Minato leaned back on his seat, crossing his arms and raising his chin up in the air. "It turns out that Arashi is very interested in continuing his studies at the academy."

"Really?"

The Hokage nodded. "Yep. I don't think I've ever seen him so excited about, well, _anything_."

Ryuka frowned. "Excited? Arashi?"

"It's not like he was bouncing off the walls or anything," Minato told her, holding up a hand. "But he was very insistent. The point is, there's no need to worry anymore, Ryuka. He'll be fine."

His assistant sighed, looking dully out the window. "It's not like this fixes everything, Minato-sama."

"No, it doesn't," he agreed. "But it's better than him wanting nothing out of his life. You'll see, everything'll work itself out."

"I hope you're right," Ryuka said. "For his sake, I hope you're right."

"Wow," Minato muttered, frowning at her. "And you called _me_ depressing."

Ryuka chuckled. "Speaking of depressing," she said, placing a hand on the giant stack of papers that now towered over Minato's seated form. "These need to get done by tomorrow, so good luck with that."

Minato didn't appear to show any outward reaction at that, but Ryuka could feel him tense up.

"Ryuka."

"Yes, Minato-sama?"

"I... I just realized. I hate this job. I hate it so much."

* * *

**AN:**

**Poor Minato. Maybe the reason he sacrificed himself in canon was because he came to the conclusion that being inside a death god's belly for all eternity was still better than having to do paperwork.**

**Right from the outset of this story, I wanted to make sure, above everything else, that Arashi would not be Naruto. I figure that this is what it would've been like for everyone's favorite ramen-loving ninja if he hadn't of started pulling pranks that absolutely demanded attention. All jinchuuriki face more or less the same struggle though, with the loneliness and whatnot, so their childhoods might be a bit too similar for your tastes. Worry not, because, as you can probably see from this chapter, they won't go down the same path.**

**Sasuke needed to be a major character, so sorry for anyone who hates him, but he's pretty much integral to this story. He won't be the same person that he was in canon, however, so stick around if you're curious as to whether or not I make him a better character.**

**As for the OC? Sorry, but it would've been boring to write Minato's scenes if he was just there wallowing around in his own pity and guilt. It's still there, obviously, but I wanted someone to at the very least distract him from it every once in a while. I think any decent person would try to make others feel better, even if that other person happens to be your boss.**

**Oh, and how could I forget? Naruto's over! The manga at least. NaruHina fans, congratulations I guess. It sucked for pretty much every other shipping, but at least you guys don't have to go on a planet-destroying rampage now. I'm more interested in knowing how the hell ninjas are still relevant in what appears to be a modern world now. I mean, there's no more war or conflict of any sort apparently, and surely all this modern technology diminishes the usefulness of ninja in both their jobs and their abilities, so what's the point? Kishi kinda dropped the ball on that one.**

**And freaking Salad? That's just hilarious.**

**Next time, a bunch of people die, Arashi throws a hissy fit, Iruka realizes that teaching ain't easy, and all Hinata fans damn me to hell.**


	3. Life is Misery

I don't own Naruto. I mean, I would if I wanted to, but who'd want to own something thats already over anyway, right? There's no way you can make money off of a dead manga, it's not like Dragon Ball's been doing it for years.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Life is Misery**

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga ran.

She didn't know where she was going. Even if she had a destination in mind, her bowed head would've made it impossible to see the way there. Hinata just needed to get away.

To be strong like her father and kind like her mother, that was her dream, but it seemed that she wouldn't be able to fulfill it. How stupid she was, to think that anyone like her could ever accomplish something like that.

Ever since she could remember it had been the same way. An inherent weakness inside her and only her. The rest of the Main House... no... The rest of the Hyuuga were the complete opposite. Her clan distinguished itself in every way. They were supposed to be the richest, the strongest, the best of the best. All of them but her.

So she watched as her sister, so much younger and smaller than her, rose to all her expectations as the daughter of the clan head. She watched as looks of respect turned into ones of disappointment. She watched her mother die hoping that her daughter would become someone great. She watched her father's tight gaze when he realized that his late wife's last wish wouldn't be fulfilled.

Hinata was a lost cause to them already. She knew that it was up to her sister to fill the role of heiress now. It wasn't official yet, of course, but she didn't need anyone to tell her. Her father's face when he watched her lose against her sister one more time had been enough.

A part of her felt somewhat relieved. No one would look at her in that same judging way. Her mistakes would become par for the course rather than an anomaly. She would fade into the background.

_But..._

Hinata felt tears stinging her eyes, and shut them tightly as she kept sprinting down the street, away from her clan's compound.

_I don't want to fail... I want to make you all proud!_

That's when her head snapped back, having hit what felt like a brick wall. Hinata took a few steps back, flinching at the pain that sprung on her forehead. In front of her something splattered on the ground, catching her attention. _Ice cream? _

"Oi!"

Three kids stood in front of her, all at least a head taller than her frail form. The one in the middle, the one she had crashed into, glared at her, opening his mouth to say something. Whatever it was caught in his throat when their eyes met. Seeing their friend hesitate, the other two looked her over too, and all of them straightened up in recognition.

"Is that..."

"Look at her eyes!"

"Don't tell me..."

The one she had bumped into— the leader it seemed— grabbed her arm and began dragging her into the forest that surrounded the road they were on. "C'mon then!" he said, and the others followed after him. Hinata struggled against the boy's grip, but it was too strong and too tight. He must've been older than her. Then again, her physical strength had never been particularly impressive.

They stopped a ways into the woods, with just enough trees between them and the road that no one could see them. The boy let go of her arm, but her freedom was short lived as she was quickly surrounded by him and his two friends.

"I'm telling ya, she's a Hyuuga, just like that Neji kid."

"Yeah, they've got the same weird eyes, those freaks."

Neji? Her cousin? The most gifted member of the Branch House? It was strange to hear someone compare her to him.

"Those Hyuuga are always so high and mighty, thinking they're better than us."

"Aren't ya gonna say you're sorry, Hyuuga?"

It took a second for Hinata to realize they were speaking to her. "H-Huh?"

"Look at that, she thinks she's too good to pay attention to people like us."

"Say you're sorry, Hyuuga! Say you're sorry for your stupid clan and for knocking over my ice cream!"

Hinata fiddled with her fingers, hunched over. She didn't want to apologize for her family at all. Sure she was a failure, but she was still a part of it, even if only in name.

Rough hands held her and threw her to the ground, leaving Hinata on her hands and knees. "Say you're sorry! Say it!"

Hinata could feel tears beginning to drip down her cheeks. "I'm sorry..." she finally whispered. She just wanted to be left alone. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." The three boys still loomed around her, preventing her escape. She probably wouldn't of tried to run anyway. Fear kept her on the ground. "I'm s-sorry..." And she was. She was sorry for not being able to be the person her family wanted her to be. She was sorry for not even having the strength to at least _try_ to defend herself from some random strangers.

"I think that about does it."

"No..."

Hinata opened her eyes wide and yelped when a hand reached over and yanked on her hair. "You think you're so superior to us, don't ya? Look who's kneeling down now!" She felt a sting on her cheek, and her body crumpled to the ground.

Having prepared to become a ninja since she was four, Hinata was used to getting hurt. She'd gotten hit plenty of times, and she'd powered through it for years. However, this was the single worst pain she'd ever felt. Here, away from anyone else, surrounded by three bullies, Hinata could only wish that she was sparring against her sister. It was _humiliating_. She'd never felt so... so utterly powerless.

Being who she was, Hinata was probably better trained than her assailants. She should've been able to beat them all, at the same time at that. As she lay there on the ground, with the boy who had hit her getting ready to do so again, she kept thinking that. Her brain kept coming to that conclusion, but her body wouldn't move.

"Help..." she mumbled, the noise barely reaching her own ears. _Somebody help me..._

_Please..._

Two of the boys grabbed her and held her up as the third one stood in front of her.

_Please!_

But no one came. No knight in shining armor. No hero. Just her, and she couldn't do anything.

It felt a lot longer than it probably took. The boys had most likely gotten bored after a while, leaving her bruised body to lay there on the grass. Her guardian Kō found her eventually, yelling and asking her a variety of things. She couldn't make out anything he said, and didn't even try to. The world was muted, a sharp ring at the back of her head filling the lack of sound.

Hinata closed her eyes as she felt herself being carried. Her father wouldn't like it when he found out what happened to her... probably. She didn't know how he felt about her anymore.

_You must've loved me before at least, right?_ she thought, feeling herself drift away.

When she came to, the first thing Hinata saw was the wooden ceiling of the Hyuuga infirmary. It might've seemed strange to have a private infirmary for the clan, as the village had a hospital, but Hinata figured that there were times when the Hyuuga liked to keep to itself. Like when the supposed heiress got beaten up by a bunch of no-name kids.

She was lying down under some covers and moving hurt her stomach and chest, but Hinata still turned her head to meet her father. Hiashi knelt next to her futon, the same expressionless face he always wore still present even as he addressed his injured daughter.

"Hinata," he said simply, and that's all he needed to say. His voice was completely monotone, and his face didn't even twitch, but that single word told Hinata everything she had been dreading to hear.

"Father..."

"Why did you allow this to happen, Hinata?"

She turned away, looking back up at the ceiling. "Because... I am weak."

"You are."

Neither of them said anything for a while after that. Hinata didn't know exactly what her father was thinking, but she could take a guess. Her head throbbed, and her eyes were still adjusting to the light after having woken up, but in that moment, Hinata reached a sort of clarity.

"I..."

Hiashi had been looking at her from the beginning, never taking his eyes away, so her sudden speech didn't elicit any reaction, but she knew she had her father's attention.

"I d-don't want to be w-weak anymore."

How did he do it, she wondered. How could anyone be so unmovable? If only she'd been like that, Hinata wouldn't be laying where she was, her body bruised and battered.

"F-Father, show me how to be s-strong like you." Hinata couldn't meet his eyes, and to her shame, she felt tears start sliding out from her eyes once again. "Please... I don't want to g-get hurt again."

It must've worked. Something about Hiashi changed then, a quality she couldn't see. His expression remained impassive, but his blank eyes deepened.

"Are you prepared to do anything?"

Hinata didn't think she could speak anymore, so she dipped her head in a nod.

"Then dry your tears for good. Don't worry, Hinata, I won't let you feel this pain ever again."

* * *

"Totally the Hiraishin."

"What? No way."

"The Hiraishin, dude. It's teleportation."

"So's Shisui-nii's Body Flicker!"

"No, he's just really really fast."

"It's the same thing."

"It doesn't matter how fast you are, teleportation's instant. Hiraishin's better." Arashi gave his friend a grin, sticking out his tongue. "Don't feel so bad. It's not like you Uchihas have to win at _everything_."

Sasuke grumbled, pouting at the distance. "At least Shisui-nii doesn't need a stupid kunai just to get around..."

Arashi turned his head back to the sky. "I guess that's a good point."

The two boys lay next to each other on their backs, cradling their heads. Below them, the Uchiha district was just beginning to darken, it's residents turning in for the night. The main house's roof was hard but comforting, and it was the only place they could go to without having to deal with others.

Arashi's presence amongst the Uchiha had made them tense at first. The more he kept showing up, the easier it seemed to be for everyone to get used to it, but most of them still chose to pretend he just wasn't there. Hence, the roof.

"Hey, did you do the homework for tomorrow?"

"... Which one?"

"The one about the Nidaime."

Sasuke shot up. "Wh-What!?"

Arashi hummed, his eyelids half-closed. "I swear, you'd fail out of the academy if I didn't keep reminding you about this stuff."

The Uchiha fell back, covering his eyes with his hands. "Uuuuugh!" He ruffled his hair and started massaging his head, groaning every few seconds. Finally, he stopped and stared up at the stars. "I'm gonna have to skip breakfast tomorrow."

"That sucks," Arashi mumbled. His mouth then started watering. "Your mom's such a great cook... Maybe it's worth getting a zero."

Sasuke's face scrunched up at that. "I... But..." He deflated, sighing out into the air. "Yeah, probably."

Sasuke's immediate family were the exception when it came to his pariah of a friend. Of course, it might've been in part because Sasuke kept inviting him over and they were sort of forced to interact with him, but still. They were nice to Arashi, which was a lot more than he could say about most people.

"There you two are."

Arashi and Sasuke looked up in a hurry. Standing on the roof in front of them was Itachi Uchiha, the single most stoic person Arashi had ever met in his life. It sometimes seemed like his expression never changed, something he'd likely inherited from his father. Upon seeing him, the two children bolted to their feet. Arashi held his hand against his rapidly beating chest while Sasuke went to the newcomer and threw up his hands.

"Itachi-nii! What do you think you're doing, showing up all of a sudden!? You're gonna give someone a heart attack!"

Itachi looked down at his brother for a long time, poked him in the forehead, then proceeded to completely ignore his younger counterpart in favor of the other boy on the roof. "Arashi-kun, it's getting late. I will escort you home, if you wish."

Itachi was immediately assaulted by the two boys as they started pulling at his clothes and trying to push him around.

"You're right Itachi, let's go!"

"Can I come too, nii-san!? Can I!?"

The older Uchiha took a moment to rub the bridge of his nose before leaning over to pick up both kids. They grappled onto his back, one on each shoulder, and he grabbed one of each of their arms to make sure they wouldn't fall off. They weren't exactly small enough to both fit while on top of him, so it was a bit cumbersome, but Itachi wasn't an elite ninja for nothing.

With both of his charges secure, Itachi took off to the cheer and exuberance of his brother and his brother's friend. Jumping from roof to roof at the speeds he was going at, they would reach Arashi's apartment in a few minutes at most.

"I guess now's a good enough time to tell you two. Don't be surprised when you see a new sensei tomorrow," he said, his subdued voice audible even as he flew over building after building.

"A new teacher!? What happened to the old one!?" Arashi shouted, not used to the high speeds he was being trained to handle in the academy.

Their old teacher had actually quit after the twentieth time he was almost killed by one of his students during target practice, but there was no reason for the children on his shoulders to know that. "I don't know the details. Something about getting a bad haircut."

Arashi seemed confused as to why someone wouldn't show up for their job over something as minor as that, but Sasuke's sudden laughter snapped him out of it. "What's so funny?"

"Don't you see what this means, Arashi!? Now I don't have to do any homework!"

He threw his head back and laughed again, getting his friend to give him a deadpan stare in return. Sasuke's celebration was cut short when Itachi threw his brother a cold glance over his shoulder.

"You didn't do your homework?"

Now it was Arashi's turn to laugh.

* * *

Iruka sat in the teacher's lounge, looking over his notes. His left leg bounced up continuously, and his eyes flitted across the paper in front of him for a few seconds before he turned the page and got started on the next one.

After two years as an assistant teacher, the chunin would finally get his own class to work with. An entire room full of kids were going to depend on him for the rest of their academic careers, so it made sense that he'd written himself some notes. Fifty pages, give or take, just to make sure that he wouldn't forget anything.

Just before Iruka started reading the same line for the fourth time in a row, the door opened. One of his superiors, or colleagues now, walked in and sat himself on one of the chairs surrounding the table Iruka sat at. The man wore a chunin vest, had a trimmed goatee, and looked surprisingly out of shape for a ninja.

Really, it seemed as if even the fittest of people let themselves go when they started teaching at the academy. Iruka swore to himself that he'd never let that happen to him.

"Iruka-san! I'm surprised you're here. Usually, I'm the only one to come in this early," the man said.

Looking up from the paper in his hand, Iruka gave his fellow teacher a wry chuckle. "I know, Daikoku-senp— ah, Daikoku-san, but I figured I'd make sure that I wouldn't be late today."

Daikoku bobbed his head. "Ah, today's the day for you, isn't it? A full class, all by yourself. I can see why you would want to play it safe." He glanced down, finally noticing the stack of papers on the table. "Uh... That might be a bit excessive, though."

Iruka put the page he had down, blushing a little in embarrassment. "I just wanted to make sure I was ready," he said, trying to defend himself. That embarrassment quickly turned into nervousness, and he picked up his notes again. "I mean, what if I forget something in the middle of a lecture? What if a student asks me a question I don't know the answer to?"

The man beside him laughed at that, patting Iruka on the back so hard that it almost knocked him off the chair he was sitting on. "Don't tell me you're getting scared, Iruka-san! Ha!" Daikoku shook his head, taking the notes and holding them out of Iruka's reach. "They're just kids! You'll be fine, trust me. All you've gotta do is stand there, threaten them into shutting up, and start reading off the book." He paused, looking upwards as his mouth curved downwards in thought. "That works for my class at least. Which one did you get assigned to?"

"The one in room 106," Iruka responded, almost immediately. "A bit on the smaller side, all things considered. Only about thirty kids compared to the usual forty."

Daikoku frowned. "106? Are you sure?"

"I know it by heart. Why, is there something wrong?"

"It depends on what you would define as wrong. Now, I myself wouldn't exactly say it's a deal breaker, but that class is particularly... _troublesome_."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. No one had told him anything like that about his class before. "Oh yeah? What's the problem with it?"

"Thing is... well, it's not really the entire class, just one kid. You know... _that_ kid."

"What? Which ki—" The answer popped into Iruka's head before he could even finish the question. "Woah, wait, you mean _that_ kid?"

Daikoku nodded, sighing deeply. "I feel sorry for you, having to deal with something like that for your first time."

Iruka covered his face with his hands, leaning his elbows on the table. _Of course I get stuck with him. Great._ Rubbing his forehead, Iruka faced his college. "What do you think I should do?"

Daikoku shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe you could ask Hokage-sama to reassign you?"

"I don't think so," Iruka said. "He already did me a favor by getting me this job. I'd feel bad to ask him something like that just because I don't want to deal with one kid."

"Then... just don't deal with him?"

"Huh?" Iruka gave Daikoku a questioning look. "What do you mean? Of course I'll have to deal with him. We'd be in the same room, and I'll be his _teacher_."

"So?" Daikoku asked. "You know how it is with him. It'd be pretty easy to forget about one kid in a group of thirty."

"I guess..." Iruka wasn't sure of that. He knew about the unsaid consensus amongst the residents of Konoha to simply ignore anything having to do with the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki. He'd never personally ran into the kid, but just the idea of seeing him every day made him feel awkward. "We'll see. Maybe it won't be such a big deal."

* * *

Iruka stood in front of the door marked 106. He fidgeted in place, tightening his hold on the books he had under his arm. There was no need to be worried. He'd prepared for this. _I'm ready_, he thought, taking a deep breath. Pushing the door open, Iruka walked inside, letting out the air built up in his lungs with a deep sigh.

The class was the definition of chaos. Iruka's own assistant teacher, Mizuki, was already in the room, standing off to the side. His entrance got the attention of his fellow chunin, but the other man shrugged, giving the kids a meaningful look, as if to say 'you should probably do something about this.'

Iruka placed his books on his desk, faced the class, and cleared his throat. When that didn't work, he raised a hand. "Excuse me..."

No one even turned his way. That was kind of frustrating. He was sure that at least one of them would've noticed their teacher walk into the room. "If I could have your attention."

He couldn't, apparently, because none of his students spared him a glance. They were too busy talking to each other about whatever it was eight-year-olds deemed more important than showing some damn respect. Iruka could feel a vein start to pop. _Immature little brats..._

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

That got their attention. The room quieted down almost instantly, the sudden spike of killing intent scaring all the minors out of their wits. One of them even vomited on his desk, losing no respect from his classmates for doing so.

Iruka glanced at Mizuki in the ensuing silence, and nearly grinned when he saw the chunin give him a discrete thumbs up. He coughed on his hand and stood a little straighter. "My name is Iruka Umino, and I will be your new sensei starting today. Are there any questions before we begin?"

It seemed like there would be none, but then one hand was raised. And, of course, _of course_, it was the one hand Iruka had been hoping wouldn't get raised for the entirety of the school year.

Iruka met Arashi's eyes for a split second, and despite himself, the image of a giant nine tailed demon crossed his mind. The teacher turned around to face the board, a stick of chalk in his hand, and began to write. "Alright then, let's get started on the Nidaime. You all got your homework done, right?"

Next to Arashi, Sasuke's head banged on the desk.

* * *

Arashi was starting to consider skipping school. He had never had the urge before, but the idea was starting to sound better and better the more he thought it over.

He was used to being treated differently by his teachers. After two years in the academy, Arashi and the faculty had reached an unspoken agreement of sorts, where they tolerated his presence so long as he didn't participate above the bare minimum.

The thing is, everyone had eventually gotten used to him being there, and after a while Arashi stopped feeling like he was just an outside observer. His sensei had stopped pausing before calling his name during attendance. His classmates had started clapping for him whenever he won a spar, or even when he lost one. He'd get praised for getting an answer right or for getting a high grade.

And then the new guy, Iruka-_sensei_, went ahead and brought things back to how they used to be. He could keep his hand raised all day without his name being called. There was no word of acknowledgement when he hit a bulls-eye during target practice, or even when he threw wide and missed the target entirely right after.

Sitting in that classroom, staring right at his new teacher as the man lectured on about some famous clan— Uzumari or something— Arashi knew that the world must be out to get him. He'd grown too comfortable in the academy, so God or destiny or whatever it was that played around with his messed up life had decided to send him a reminder of how things really were for him.

However, for the first time that he could remember, Arashi was starting to get mad. He'd gone over it in his head more times than he could count, and he was sure that there was nothing he could've done to make everyone hate him. He then came to the conclusion that his parents must've done something, so he'd asked the Hokage to tell him who they were. The man had given him all the information he could, their names, their careers, important events and their dates, pages upon pages filled with all sorts of details about their lives. Nothing incriminating ever came up.

Basically, he was born on the day of the village's worst tragedy, both his parents died before he'd even opened his eyes for the first time, the entire population of the Leaf didn't want him to exist, he was forced to live alone and take care of himself at the age of six, and now his teacher couldn't let him answer one goddamn question?

So deep in thought was Arashi that he didn't hear the bell, and was only alerted to his classmates leaving the room when Sasuke nudged his shoulder.

"Hey, Arashi, you okay? It looks like you're trying really hard to hold in a fart."

Arashi scowled at the other boy, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Shut it, duckbutt."

"_You_ shut it! My hair's cool."

"Says who?"

Sasuke leveled him with a blank stare as they descended the stairs to the front of the room. "My waves upon waves of fangirls. How many fangirls did _you_ have again?"

"I thought you hated your fangirls."

"... Alright, I do. Speaking of which..." Sasuke shuddered when they heard a cry of 'Sasuke-kun!' coming from outside the room. "Can you distract them for me? My mom's tired of having to buy me new clothes. Those girls can't stop ripping them all up."

Arashi was about to relent out of pity, but then he noticed Iruka packing up his things. "Yeah... You're on your own."

The thought of having to face what was awaiting him outside all by himself nearly brought Sasuke to tears. "How could you do this to me!?"

"I have stuff to do. Also, nothing would ever get me to put myself in between you and those _things_."

Hand already on the knob, Sasuke turned to face his friend before his inevitable fate. When Arashi saw the terror in those onyx eyes, he knew then and there that he would never allow himself to grow any sort of fanbase. "I'm probably not gonna make it..."

Arashi nodded, his face solemn. "You're a brave man, Sasuke. Braver than any man I've ever met."

Sasuke opened the door and stepped outside. Before the door closed, Arashi heard shrieking from a multitude of voices. One of them sounded distinctly more feminine than the rest. He bowed his head in respect.

Arashi shook off his friend's plight and went to stand in front of Iruka's desk. The man didn't notice him loiter as he put away his papers and supplies. There was also a possibility that Iruka was waiting for him to go away, but that was fine too. Arashi could wait there all day long if he had to.

Finally, Iruka looked up to see his most dreaded student idling there. He was startled, having expected Arashi to be the very first one out the door, but here he was with a strangely stern expression on his rounded face.

"A-Arashi." Iruka couldn't help but be a bit put off. This was the very situation he had feared would occur when he'd found out that the village pariah was going to be a student in his class. Facing him in a one-on-one confrontation like this wasn't anything like being in a room full of people. "Is there... anything I can do for you?"

The boy didn't miss a beat. "There is," Arashi said, and the plainness in such a young voice really threw the chunin for a loop. "You can stop ignoring me first, then maybe give me a high five whenever I get an A on a test or something, and later you can start checking off my answers even if they're wrong just because you like me so much."

Somehow, Iruka had been expecting harsher demands. "I... You... What...?"

"Um... That's too much, right?" Arashi scratched the top of his head, his cheeks tinted red. _Idiot, what are you doing? Don't you know how to scream at someone else?_ He'd been ready to take his blooming anger out on Iruka, but it had already waned. He had never been someone who threw tantrums before. Even so, he still had something he wanted to tell the man in front of him. "I don't know how to say it, but..."

For his part, Iruka didn't know what do do. Awkward didn't even come close to describing how he felt right then. "O—... Okay? I, uh, I'll see you tomorrow, then..."

He didn't make it halfway to the door before Arashi grabbed the sleeve of his standard issue uniform. Looking down, the teacher met his student's resolute eyes.

"I like this place. I like the academy. It isn't like everywhere else. Here, I can be someone, at least a little. Please, don't change it..."

And suddenly, it all came crashing down on Iruka. _This... This is just a kid... _There was nothing strange or malicious about him. The hazy image of a towering demon that had been present behind Arashi vanished like dimming mist, leaving only an ordinary, eight-year-old boy in its wake. Maybe it was the simplicity of it, or the innocence with which the request was made, but Iruka couldn't keep his grip on the feeling of resentment he'd held whenever he looked at Arashi any longer.

So the awkwardness left him, and guilt replaced it. Not just guilt for the way he'd acted that day, but for thinking that Arashi was anything other than a kid all this time. He couldn't look into those pleading eyes any more.

"I-I have to go," he stuttered out, leaving in a rush. He didn't look back, and he didn't want to. _All I wanted was to teach some little kids how to throw straight, _he thought, speed walking as far away from the academy as possible. _How am I supposed to deal with something like this?_ His training hadn't covered how to deal with someone like Arashi. This went beyond anything he'd been ready for. _And I have to see him again... for eight hours... every day... for four years..._

He _knew_ something would go wrong. Now, he didn't even know the first step to fixing it.

* * *

Later that day, with the sun just about to set, Iruka found himself before the Memorial Stone. He'd been distracted as he walked through the village, and even now he could barely recall the trek from the academy, so when he looked up to see the carved slab of stone, the chunin had to blink away his astonishment.

His eyes immediately zoned onto the two names written midway through the great construct by sheer reflex. He'd stood in front of it many times, always for the same purpose, so it made sense that some sort of muscle memory would show itself.

_Ikkaku Umino_

_Kohari Umino_

The sight didn't fill him with the same sadness as it had before. He used to stare at those two names for hours on end, crying and crying. Their names weren't enough, and looking at them only made him feel more alone. It wasn't until later that he would learn to deal with it, but even now, with their lives and dreams forever in his heart, he couldn't hold back the gloom that washed over him, a gloom that only added to the turmoil of that day.

_These past two years, I could always come here knowing that you were proud of me, watching from wherever you are. Is it still like that now?_ His eyes strained, so intense was his gaze. He knew they probably couldn't hear what he was thinking, and that he wouldn't get a response even if they could, but Iruka couldn't help it. He wanted... something. Answers? Assurance?

"Tell me," he whispered, hoping that asking out loud would get him more than empty silence. "What do I do? What _can_ I do?"

"You could've brought flowers, for one."

Iruka twisted around, more than a little startled. He'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't even heard anyone come up to him until they were practically on top of him. Then again, he didn't think he could've caught on to the Hokage even if he had been paying close attention.

The chunin blinked, not processing what he was seeing. "... What."

Minato gave him a small smile, holding up his bouquet of tulips before kneeling down and placing it against the memorial. "Flowers. I make sure to come here at least once a week with some. That's just me, though. What brought you out here?"

"I... I'm, uh..." Iruka pocketed his hands to keep himself from fiddling with them. "I don't know, actually."

The Yondaime nodded in understanding. It wasn't rare to find a ninja going to the Memorial Stone for no real reason. It had a magnetic quality to it, a monument to honor their fallen comrades throughout all the generations. He himself had wandered over to it in the past when he used to have free time.

"So, how was your first day as a teacher, Iruka-san?" he asked.

"My first day... Right..." Iruka reached up to run the back of his neck. "Heh, I guess you could say it didn't quite go... as planned."

Minato cocked his head, an eyebrow raised. "Not as planned? What, did one of those brats die in the obstacle course again?"

"Well no, but— wait, _again_?"

"It's a long story," Minato said, waving it away with his hand. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, what's the deal?"

Iruka sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I dunno, I just... Maybe I'm not ready for it after all."

"... eh?"

"This class in particular is... complicated." Iruka didn't want to say straight out what the problem was. He didn't think that telling the Hokage that all his troubles stemmed from one kid's complaint would earn him much in the way of pity. "I don't think I'm good enough to handle this. I mean, I'm new after all. I don't have the experience."

"... Experience? Complicated? New?" Minato hummed, shaking his head. "Who _are_ you?"

Iruka reared back, not quite knowing what to say to that. "Uh... I'm Iruka Umi—"

"Really? Is this the same Iruka who came into my office two years ago and demanded to be an academy teacher?"

"I don't think _demanded_ is the right word for—"

"All these excuses you have... It reminds me more of a green as grass genin than a veteran chunin." The Yondaime threw his hands up in exasperation, seemingly taking it all in stride. The disappointment was there though, and it was deep enough that it couldn't be kept from bleeding into his tone. "You think being a teacher's tough? I'd like to see you try your hand at Hokage, _especially_ with all the things I have to deal with right now."

Iruka looked properly chastised, though that was probably more because of the emotion in Minato's words than their content. Turning away, the Hokage tutted with a shake of his head. It was clear to him that something had changed in the chunin. Time must've diluted his original goal, and now the challenge he was facing was strong enough to counter whatever determination was left.

"Life's tough, Iruka, you of all people should know that by now, but I guess you've gotten too complacent. I don't want to tell you what to do, but you should know... No matter how big you think whatever you're dealing with right now is, I'm sure someone else would switch places with you in a heartbeat." Sighing, Minato faced the skies. He then began stroking his chin for added effect. "Ah... They just don't make ninja like how they used to."

His face burning red, Iruka didn't have it in him to even try looking back up. He didn't think anyone had ever been put in their place like this by their kage. Even though there was no one around to see it, he had never felt more embarrassed in his life.

"Iruka." Minato's voice was now serious, no trace of the playful reprimand left. "Did your fire burn out?"

There was no answer. When Iruka finally got up the nerve to take his eyes off the ground, Minato was already gone.

_Did my fire burn out?_ Iruka wondered to himself, staring at the empty space that the strongest man in the village had taken up just seconds before.

* * *

Sasuke held the straps of his bag tightly as he peeked around the concrete corner of a building. Seeing no crazed pre-teens in sight, he let himself take a deep breath and lean his head against the wall, eyes closed and a relieved smile on his lips. "Ahhh," he sighed. "I finally lost them."

"Finally lost who?"

Immediately, Sasuke jumped back into the narrow alley and flashed through a string of hand signs in seconds. **"FIRE STYLE—"**

Throwing his arms in front of his face, Arashi took several rapid stumbles back, almost tripping. "OHMYGODITSMEDONTSHOOT!"

Eyes wide, Sasuke cut off the flow of his chakra in the middle of his technique. He slumped over, coughing up plumes of black smoke. Arashi, still high on the sudden surge of adrenaline that came with almost getting burned to death, walked forward, his hands still held in front of him. "Uh, you... You okay there?"

The Uchiha held up a finger, still busy taking care of his retching. Now certain of his continued survival, Arashi began to pat the poor boy on the back, making sure to stretch his own shirt into a pseudo mask to keep from breathing in the smoke. "That was close. Remind me to never throw you a surprise party."

"How'd you get there without me seeing you anyway?" Sasuke asked from his kneeled over position, the effects from his canceled attack all but gone.

"Um, ninja in training?"

Well that made some amount of sense. Didn't explain why Arashi was going around scaring the crap out of people, though. "Sorry about the fireball," Sasuke told him. "These fangirls make me nervous."

Arashi narrowed his eyes in stupefaction. "Wait, you were ready to use that on a fangirl?"

"Yeah."

"Just to scare them, right?"

"... It _could_ scare them."

"But you would've stopped, right?"

Sasuke stared at him, his face completely serious. "I make no promises."

Deciding that he would rather not talk about the psychotic thoughts that were probably going through Sasuke's head, Arashi backed away from his friend and went towards the main street, stopping just before he entered the wall of people moving to and fro. "C'mon, let's get out of here before some poor girl gets barbecued."

They entered the flow of walkers easily enough, too easily in fact. A wide berth was given to them, leaving the two academy students free to go at their own pace. Sasuke looked around, taking notice of all the room between them and everyone else as they walked. "I can never get used to this," he muttered, shaking his head. Arashi smiled, putting his hands inside his pockets and closing his eyes in satisfaction.

Going around town wasn't usually like this for him. People would just go about their day as if he weren't there, leaving him with the task of weaving his way through the crowd. However, he'd noticed that the people of Konoha were less inclined to give Sasuke the same treatment. It must've put them in a compromising position whenever the two hung out, having to try and ignore one while simultaneously acknowledging the other. What they didn't seem to realize was that, no matter how hard they tried, they could never do both things at once. After all, Sasuke accepted him, and they accepted Sasuke, making it so that they accepted him by proxy. It wasn't the same thing as directly admitting that he was there after all, but he'd take his victories where he could.

"S-So," Sasuke stuttered out, his shoulders slightly rigid, "what did you have to stay behind for? Don't tell me Kiba stuffed dog fur in your sandwich again."

Arashi decided not to point out how uncomfortable Sasuke looked. It seemed that the Uchiha still hadn't gotten used to how different things were when it came to him and the other villagers, even after two years. The questions had stopped after the first month when Sasuke realized that Arashi didn't have any answers either, and so they had an unspoken agreement to just live with it.

"It's got nothing to do with Kiba," he finally said, scoffing at the mere mention of their most annoying classmate. _And just when I thought he couldn't get any worse, he gets his own puppy. Like that guy needed something else to brag about._ "I should've shoved the fur in his mouth after the second time, though. See how he likes it," he added in a mutter.

"Hn," Sasuke scoffed, giving Arashi a shake of his head. "You still didn't do it after the _fourth_ time. You go too easy on him." And he did. It was like the word 'payback' wasn't even in Arashi's vocabulary. That's not what this was about though. "Now stop evading my question. We just learned how to do that last week, remember?"

Arashi looked away, pretending to get caught up in a pair of shoes on display at a store. "Don't worry about it."

Sasuke stared at him, actually getting the boy to sweat a bit. "It was Iruka-sensei, wasn't it?" His assumption was proven correct when Arashi visibly stiffened at the name of their new teacher. Shrugging, Sasuke set his eyes forward. "Yeah, he was being kind of a jerk to you today."

"It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Still, I'm hoping he gets over it like our last teacher did. Don't know what their problem is."

They kept walking for a bit, with Sasuke occasionally taking glances at his friend, who was still looking away. "... Thanks," Arashi finally murmured, not being able to hold back his appreciation. It felt relieving to have at least one person he could truly depend on to actually care about what happened to him.

It was then that the thought of going back to his empty apartment didn't feel very appealing, so Arashi brought up his hands in prayer and turned to his friend. "Hey! Hey, Sasuke!"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke tried giving him the patented Itachi Uchiha gaze. Instead of the dull-eyed stare his brother had perfected, the academy student only succeeded in making himself look constipated. When he saw that the boy walking next to him wasn't perturbed in the least, and in fact seemed to be holding back a grin, Sasuke decided that it was best to go with his tried and true petulant glare. "What already?"

"Can I come over? Please?" Oh, he could already see it now. Trying to recreate Sasuke's Great Fireball, maybe a swim in the small lake in the backyard, and best of all, Mikoto's cooking. Just thinking about the heavenly food made his mouth water. _I wonder what's for dinner today?_ he thought, eyes losing focus. _Curry? Shrimp? I'll even eat ramen if I have to!_

Sasuke frowned, not out of annoyance or anything else similar to it, but a true, deep frown with hints of worry and confusion. Noticing that his friend had developed such a serious expression, Arashi stopped playing around and threw Sasuke a raised brow. "What's wrong? I can't go?"

Shaking his head, Sasuke's frown lessened until it was barely a downward quirk of the forehead. "No... I mean, you can't, but it's not that." He covered his lips with his index finger and lightly held his chin, something Arashi had long ago determined came from his father. "There's something weird going on at home."

Arashi put his hands back in his pockets, not knowing what else to do with them. "Are your parents fighting again? I swear, your dad needs to loosen up at some point."

"It's not that," Sasuke told him, "just a bad feeling I'm having. Everyone was acting really nervous this morning. I don't really know what it's about, but it might not be a good idea for you to be there."

Now that it got brought up, Arashi had noticed the strangeness that had come over the Uchiha clan when he was there the day before. Everyone had been so sullen and reserved compared to how things usually were. Even Sasuke's dad, Fugaku, who made it his personal mission to be as dour as humanly possible, had barely been able to sit still during dinner. He didn't know why, but his stomach dropped lower and lower the more he thought about it. It was one of those feelings that only came with the absolute certainty that, though he might not know what or how, something bad was coming.

"... Yeah." His empty apartment didn't seem all that terrible anymore. "I think you might be right about that."

They came upon a split in the road, and without any fanfare, Sasuke took the left and Arashi the right. There was no need for any long goodbyes. After all, they had walked home together from the academy almost every day for years, only to part ways at that very point. With the exception of some things, it was just like any other day.

"See ya, Arashi."

"Bye bye." Arashi waved over his shoulder, not bothering to turn around. "Hey, say hi to Itachi for me!"

Now that he was alone, the crowd easily filled up the gap around him, but that was alright. He was used to that. The thing he wasn't used to was the nudging thought in the back of his head that tonight was most certainly not normal.

* * *

_No screams echoed in the dark._

_Corpses fell like rain._

_Once polished floors were sprayed with blood._

_And one soul watched it all happen again and again._

_**"Tsukuyomi."**_

_Repeat._

_Repeat._

_Repeat._

* * *

There was a funeral. Of course there was a funeral, it was stupid to think there wouldn't be one. An entire clan getting wiped out had that effect on people.

It was a surprise for Arashi when he saw how many had gathered, though he supposed that it shouldn't of been. The Uchiha used to be one of the largest clans around, so it was only natural that they had many friends. For once, Arashi was just another face in the crowd instead of an invisible specter, but he couldn't get himself to feel very happy about that.

He stood in the middle of a black sea, the dark clothing worn by everyone making the mass of people stand out on the grassy field. Arashi, having never needed to get anything fancy for himself before, had just gotten his own dress clothes that morning. A somber Ryuka had turned up at his door, dropped off his funeral garb, and left with hardly a word.

Speaking of which, the Hokage's assistant was standing next to her boss all the way at the front of the mass of mourners. She held her hands tight against her chest, and from where he stood Arashi could barely make out the movement of her lips. Whatever she was saying must've been only for herself to hear, as no one else around her seemed to pay it much mind. _A prayer?_ the boy wondered, then scoffed under his breath. Needless to say, nothing that he'd experienced in his short life had given him the impression that there was any kind of benevolent being looking out for him.

Minato Namekaze stood with his back straight and his face set in stone, and all the ninja in attendance were following his example. It was easy, then, to tell the difference between a ninja and a regular civilian, as those not enlisted in the military were the only ones blatantly mourning the loss of their loved ones. _They must be pretty strong,_ Arashi thought, his eyes shifting through the crowd.

Something about that made him feel queasy. _I'm gonna be one of them,_ he realized. _No crying, no wailing... Nothing._ But wasn't that the whole point of a funeral in the first place?

It was then that Arashi remembered that there was a service going on. Some old guy was facing them all, arms held high, and talking. He droned on and on about 'tragedy' this and 'murder' that as if everyone in attendance didn't already know. The man's voice sounded far away, and Arashi could barely make out the one or two words that kept getting through the constant buzzing in his ears, so he decided to ignore it entirely.

Among the attendees were some of his classmates, which Arashi couldn't help but find slightly insulting. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji stood side by side in front off their parents. While the former two looked put off by the setting, Shikamaru had the same tired look as always. Considering that they had barely known Sasuke or any other Uchiha as far as he knew, he didn't know whether or not he should feel annoyed. Chouji and Ino looked more confused than sad, which was understandable, while Shikamaru was at the very least honest about his relationship with the Uchiha by not even acting interested in the proceedings.

Kiba, Sakura, and several others were amongst the crowd as well, all showing some variation of sadness. It felt wrong to think that they were all pretending, but that's what Arashi honestly felt. _Maybe I'm crazy?_ he idly mused. _Either crazy or just a jerk._

There was a group of people off to the side that clearly didn't care how they appeared to everyone else. At least, that's what he could make out from the members at the front. Several men and women, all of varying ages, with long hair and white, empty eyes, all of them holding expressions of total emotionlessness. Amongst them stood a girl with similar features, one he could've sworn must've been in his class.

... _Creepy..._

Regardless, he knew that he should be reacting somehow. Bawl, brood, tear up, _anything_, but none of that happened. Inside him though, so deep that he didn't even have to try to hide it, something was simmering, and the more he stood there among the crowd of strangers and fakers, the more it burned.

As his eyes finished roaming the rest of the crowd, they inevitably came around to the one person they had been trying to avoid. Just before the speaker, Sasuke Uchiha stood. It was uncomfortable to look at his friend now, with that lost emptiness that seemed to be permanently attached to his face. The only survivor of his family's massacre didn't look sad or angry, or anything else Arashi might've expected. There was nothing there anymore. It was like looking at a whole other person.

Then again, how did someone react to something like this? Despite his inability to show it, Arashi did feel sad. The Uchiha had been reluctant, but they had still accepted him into their home and allowed him to share in their presence. Mikoto, who had taken responsibility for his health in several occasions. Fugaku, who had treated him as strictly as he treated everyone else. Itachi, who had indulged in their games, and who...

... Actually, Itachi was someone who he definitely didn't want to think about.

Lost in thought, it was only when someone bumped into him by accident that Arashi realized the ceremony was all but over. Before he knew it, he was in front of the great tombstone that had been built to honor all the fallen, paying his respects and placing a rose on its base. Seeing that grave, Arashi felt a sick sort of humor well up in him. To think, all the dozens of people who had died would be represented by a single rock dug into the ground.

People began leaving en masse, but Arashi stuck around. It somehow didn't feel right to just walk away. Looking at Sasuke, who had kneeled before the grave of his dead relatives, Arashi knew he couldn't leave it like this. _That's what friends are for, right?_ And for a brief moment, he felt elated that he could even have that thought, a sentiment he squashed the instant it rose up.

The Hokage went up to Sasuke, told him something that Arashi would never hear, then left, Ryuka following closely behind. Others came up to the kneeling boy and offered their own words of comfort before departing as well, until it was only the two of them left.

His legs stiff, Arashi walked over to his friend until he was standing just behind him. Swallowing hard, he had a millisecond of panic when he registered that he had no idea what to say. In a strange disconnect between his mind and his actions, however, he found himself speaking anyway. "Sasuke—"

"Don't waste your breath."

Arashi jerked back. "What—"

"Leave." Sasuke didn't even bother to look over his shoulder. "I... I want to be left alone."

He could see why. It was obvious that Sasuke didn't need people badgering him right now, but there was something... off about him. Arashi only noticed it now, when everyone else was gone and they had a moment to themselves. The Uchiha was exuding an invisible tension now, like he was ready to snap up at any moment and attack him, but at the same time, Arashi felt completely safe. It was almost instinctive, but he knew that the pressure around his friend wasn't being directed at him. That didn't mean that whatever it was didn't make him shiver a little.

It was clear to him that he couldn't do nothing about this, though. "I can't leave. I mean, I have to... to do..."

"What did I say?" Sasuke asked. The pressure was creeping into his voice, changing it. He sounded more intense now, more focused. "You can't say anything to me anymore. Nothing can change things back to how they used to be."

"Huh?" Arashi was starting to get a little creeped out now. He knew that Sasuke would probably be different from before after what had happened, he wasn't dumb enough to believe otherwise, but this...

"Turning my homework in late... Getting a pet for my birthday... _Whatever_. All those things are so meaningless." The pressure around Sasuke grew heavier, and for the first time, the Uchiha turned his head and met Arashi's eyes. "There's only one thing that matters now."

Those orbs of pure darkness... Anyone could get lost in them. It was hard to find a way out, and it was only when Sasuke turned back to the tombstone that Arashi realized he was holding in his breath. There was definitely something wrong, and it went beyond the loss of loved ones.

"Get out of here, Arashi."

Gulping, the brown haired boy found his voice. "Sasuke... Whatever's wrong, don't... You don't have to go through it alone, you know that, right?"

Silence.

"I mean, I know that stuff like this isn't... Man, I don't know." How did you show someone that you were there to support them? Sasuke was in a dark place, and he was familiar with that. He'd been through some rough spots himself, but he also knew what it felt like to get saved from that darkness. It was time to return the favor. "You wanna... Wanna go skip rocks in the river?"

_Stupid, stupid! You stupid idiot!_ Oh God, what was wrong with him!? He didn't know what to say, so Arashi decided to follow the words of his heart, but that wasn't something you said to a person who just had their entire family killed!

Silence.

"Sasuke?"

Nothing.

Arashi, with some trepidation, put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "H-Hey." When no response came, he shook the other boy a little. Again, no reaction. It was strange, but no matter what he did, nothing seemed to catch Sasuke's attention. Almost like he wasn't even—

His hand flew back to his side, as if he'd been burned. Eyes wide, Arashi looked down at the kneeling boy in front of him, completely speechless. His head was starting to hurt, an increasingly frenzied throb hammering away at his mind again and again. It took only a second to infer that it was his heartbeat.

Raising his arm, Arashi's eyes went to the palm of his hand. His vision was clouding with something wet, until he could barely make out the shape of his fingers.

So he ran.

* * *

The classroom was dark, the window blinds blocking the day's light. Behind his desk, Iruka sat on the chair, his head thrown back. Although it was barely noon, he was alone, school having been cancelled that day for obvious reasons.

He figured it was kind of ironic in a way, how he came back to the same place he couldn't wait to get away from just the other day. Maybe it was because it was a place where he could be by himself, but for whatever reason, his feet had taken him there. _I've been wandering around too much recently,_ he thought. His lack of focus was embarrassing for a ninja, and more than once he had been asked if he had a fever. A sardonic smirk followed his musings. _I'm going crazy, aren't I? _

As if the whole thing with Arashi wasn't enough, another one of his students had just had something horrific happen to them. Honestly, Sasuke's problems made Arashi's look inconsequential by comparison. So many things happening all at once... He couldn't just ignore all of it. Iruka wanted to be a teacher his parents would be proud of. That responsibility weighted heavily on his shoulders, and he didn't know what to do to make things better.

The Will of Fire... What was it? The Sandaime had told him long ago that it was what gave him the strength to fight for the village. Something that connected him to all the ninja in the Leaf, even the ones from past and future generations. His parents had supposedly passed it on to him when they died. If he already had it, then why couldn't he get past this?

Sighing, the chunin got up from his seat and headed towards the window. _Maybe a little fresh air is just what I need._ He pulled up the blinds, filling the room with the yellow rays of the sun, then slid the window aside. After taking a deep breath, Iruka leaned on the frame, looking out over the quiet village.

_Thunk._

The sudden noise made his ears perk up. It wasn't very loud, and on any other day it would've been drowned out by the ambient sounds of everyday life in the Hidden Leaf. Needless to say, it was not a normal day, and most people had good reason to forgo their usual activities.

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk thunk thunk thunk—_

Whatever it was, it originated from the small training field behind the school. Iruka looked around and noted that there wasn't really anyone else around, so he decided to check it out himself. The chunin closed the window and, locking the door behind him with his faculty key, left the room, heading for the back entrance to the academy.

When Iruka exited the building and found the source of the repeating noise, he involuntarily took a step back. Standing in front of a training post and bashing it over and over again with his bloody fists was Arashi. His mind blanked for a second, and he could only stare in confusion as the academy student continued to mutilate the cracked wood. It didn't take long for Iruka to snap out of it, however, and he threw up a hand, his feet just shy of rushing at his student. "Stop! What— hey, stop it!"

Arashi froze, his clutched hand already set to bash itself once more. Stiffly, his head turned to face Iruka, who was still heading over to him.

It was Iruka's turn to freeze, for Arashi's face was twisted in the very image of rage, and in his eyes, which were normally a deep green, there flashed a hint of red. That hint was gone as soon as it appeared, though, and all that was left in its wake was a small, angry boy.

As if to spite him, Arashi went ahead and punched the training post once more, looking him dead in the eyes. That... was a bit irritating, just straight up not following his orders like that, but there was a time and a place to get annoyed by insubordination, and this wasn't it.

"What are you doing!?" Iruka asked when he reached the boy, almost screaming. The only reason his voice didn't go as high as it could was because it would've further disturbed the quiet that had engulfed the village. He kneeled down in front of Arashi and took one of his injured hands, being careful to not irritate the bruised and bloody knuckles. "Look at this!"

The chunin went to look his student in the eyes, but he was only met with brown hair. Arashi's head was down, but Iruka could still see it trembling. Drops of water began to patter on their joined hands, swirling in the blood and dripping down to the ground in a pinkish mix.

"Why..."

The word was said breathlessly, and it was only then that Iruka noted how exhausted Arashi was. His formal clothing was ruffled and torn around the wrists, and dirt caked his pants. Sweat made it so the black shirt he had on glued itself to his chest, giving it a wet, uncomfortable looking texture.

"Why what?" were the words that left Iruka. He hadn't meant to say anything, but it seemed his mouth had other ideas.

Suddenly, a tiny fist planted itself in his stomach, pushing him back a bit and forcing him to let go of Arashi's hand out of surprise more than anything else. He stood, looking down at Arashi with wide eyes as the boy kept throwing one ineffective punch after another.

"Why does everyone hate me!? Why can't I have a family!? Why do I have to live by myself!?" He was crying, Iruka noted, but the tears did nothing to impede the boy from taking out his anger on him.

The combination of pique and frustration and sadness sent Iruka back to a time when very similar emotions clashed inside a very familiar young man. A young man who had just lost his own parents and was forced to look out for himself. Someone who as of yet grew up to be an indecisive failure.

_But it isn't the same._ The chunin wasn't ignorant enough to believe that his own hardships could be compared to Arashi's. They both knew what it was like to be alone, but the boy before him had been forced into the furthest extremes of that pain. The Hokage's comment, _I'm sure someone else would switch places with you in a heartbeat; _he had thought that it was only something he was told in order to further chastise him for complaining so much, but now he knew that it was a simple fact he'd never thought much of until now.

It was actually kind of funny in a sick sort of way, how things had turned out for him and Arashi. _For Sasuke, too,_ he thought, _and all the others. It's different for everyone, but I guess something I've forgotten is that... _Iruka chuckled to himself, unable to believe that the years since that incident had really let him forget something so simple, but at the same time important.

Arashi looked up to him, his watery frown meeting the sensei's eyes. "What's so funny, huh!?" he screamed, voice now hoarse.

"Nothing, it's just... _Why?_ I've got an answer for you. It's pretty easy to figure out, but I guess most people don't usually think about it." This gave pause to Arashi's constant barrage on his person, and the boy waited to hear what he had to say in reluctant trepidation. "The truth is that... life _sucks_. It's ruthless and merciless and doesn't care who it screws over. What I've gone through doesn't hold a candle to what you've gone through, but you know what? It's the same with you and someone else. There's always another sob story waiting around every corner."

Arashi growled, turning away with his hands balled up at his sides. "You don't get it—"

"What did I just say? Unless we were the exact same person, with the exact same past, I could never just _get it_. People can't ever _really_ understand each other. This world is too messed up for something like that to happen." Iruka was on a roll now. "We all get hurt, but it's useless to try and compare that pain to someone else's, because they're either gonna have it better or worse." He didn't know where what he was saying came from, but he could feel the belief he had in his words. It wasn't the same as giving a prewritten lecture about history. His thoughts, his feelings, and passing them on to someone else, regardless of whether they would share in those thoughts and feelings, _that's_ what he did. That's what a sensei should do.

His student couldn't see it, however. "Then what's the point? Why should I have to take this—"

"_Because._ Even with all that, even if we get kicked around and beaten to a pulp, we can't just lay down and take it. There's no way that I'm gonna let myself give in when there's someone out there who wishes they had the life I did, because then what can I say to them? _Sorry, but you don't know how hard it was?_"

"What... What are you saying..."

"Neither of us should get the privilege to cry today, Arashi. If you want to wallow in your own self pity anyway, that's your choice, but in the end, we all have to take it upon ourselves to live on. Some might have it easier than others, but that shouldn't make a difference." Taking a chance, Iruka placed his hand on Arashi's shoulder. The boy didn't shrug it off, instead raising a hand to wipe away his tears. "It's something I learned a long time ago, and then forgot," he said, almost smiling at how the academy student didn't seem to be angry anymore, but attentive.

"... What is?"

A smile did result from that question. "Your life is in your own two hands now, so it's up to you."

"Iruka... sensei..."

"Of course, it's not an easy thing to do completely alone, but don't worry. After all... I _am_ your teacher. It's my job to help you out, right? Helping a kid like you is the whole reason I got into the academy, isn't it?"

That was more than what Arashi could take. "Iruka-sensei!" he shouted, bursting into tears once more and crashing into the chunin. Feeling the thin arms wrap around him, Iruka patted his student's back, getting a bit of dust in his eye as well.

_This is enough, right?_ Iruka thought. He didn't know who he was asking, but it didn't matter. He knew that it was.

And his fire burned bright.

* * *

**AN:**

**Heyo.**

**Yep, the Uchiha Massacre was bound to happen. I don't know if you've noticed this, but having his family killed is kinda the only thing that makes Sasuke the least bit interesting as a character, so I had to write it.**

**I'm gonna say this straight up: Hinata's gonna be taking Sakura's spot as a main character. You might've noticed already since she's listed in the summary, but whatever. It was an easy decision to make from a completely objective standpoint, though. Sakura's background is never discussed apart from the fact that she was bullied a little, and that's just so... meh. I think half the reason she turned out to be such a weak character was because there was nothing to build her off of. The other half is Sasuke.**

**On the other hand, there's a lot I can do with Hinata. Estranged family, severe insecurity, and now that Naruto's not there, no external inspiration. It's up to her to motivate herself now, and that's something I don't see enough of in Naruto stories in general.**

**Iruka turned out to be the perfect character to express the main ideas of this whole story. He's someone who's had it rough, but not nearly to the point that others in this series have. Don't expect to see a whole lot of him throughout the story, but I like him enough that he'll show up every now and then.**

**Next time, everyone graduates, Arashi fights some jerks, and the Shadow Clone Technique is finally proven to not play almost any part in this story whatsoever.**


	4. Sink or Swim

What even is Naruto, you know? Like, as a concept. Can it even be owned?

* * *

**Chapter Four: Sink or Swim**

* * *

"So, how much?"

The man behind the counter set his bored eyes on the woman before him. She had her purse out, ready to dish out the ryo bills already. Glancing down, he noted the little kid tugging at her dress, his eyes wide and fixed on the mask in his mother's hand. Finally, the vendor took a look at what he was about to sell.

"Twenty ryo."

"Twenty? For this?" The woman held up the mask, a plain, oval construct with only three whisker marks on each cheek to distinguish it in any way. It wasn't even sturdy to make up for its lack of features, being made of what felt like cheap, weak plastic. "Don't try to swindle me, there's no way this is worth that much."

She was absolutely right about that, but the vendor had sold enough things to know that it wouldn't matter in the end. He'd be getting his way, even if his soon-to-be customer had caught on to his scheme. In fact, the boy should be speaking out at any—

"Mom, please? Pretty please?"

And there was that. The award for greatest salesman of all time goes to... The guy who just got someone to buy the equivalent of a roll of toilet paper for twenty ryo!

"Honey, I don't think—"

"Moooooom!"

"I— Oh, fine." She glared at the man, reaching into her purse for more." I hope you're proud of yourself."

The man took the bills, insanely proud of himself. True, it wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, and it wouldn't stop his ill-conceived store from going bankrupt, but he'd take his victories where he could.

When the boy grabbed his new mask, a big commotion seemed to pass by the filled street outside. The crowd all pushed each other back until a man got shoved through the door, tumbling onto his back just before he could knock over the mother and her son. Even so, the shock of someone falling right next to him caused the boy to drop his mask, and being as brittle as it was, it did not survive the fall.

As the child held the two halves of his new mask, wailing loudly, the vendor helped up the unwilling intruder. The mother began to try and comfort her son, a useless endeavor, while the man who had barged into the store so suddenly finally calmed down.

"Are you alright? What's going on out there?" the vendor asked, gripping the man by the shoulder.

"It-It's that _boy_! Running around, barreling into people like some kind of maniac!"

At first, he had no idea what the man was talking about, but then his memory was joggled. "Oh, you mean _that_ boy," the vendor recalled, confused. "That doesn't sound like him at all. What's got him so excited?"

Unaware of the chaos he was bringing to the Hidden Leaf, Arashi kept making his way through the afternoon crowds, an ear-splitting grin adorning his face. On his forehead he wore a headband, the insignia of his village carved into its metal plating.

"Oi, watch it!"

"What in the name of—"

"Hey, don't— Shit!"

"My leg!"

Glancing at a street sign nearby, Arashi determined he wasn't anywhere near his destination. _It's been a couple of minutes since class ended, and I've only gone four blocks?_ It must've been all the people in his way, because he was barely jogging as it was. He needed to go faster. _Roof-hopping it is._

With a small crouch in preparation, Arashi blasted off the street and onto the nearest one-story building. Immediately, a couple of ninja in uniform appeared at his sides, but he stuck out his tongue and pointed at his headband. At the sight of it, the two ninja shared a grumble before jumping off somewhere else.

Arashi snickered and began to jump from roof to roof, flying through the air at a breakneck pace, a far cry from the speed he was reaching on the ground. _Goodbye, traffic,_ he thought, spotting the Hokage Tower in the distance.

He made short work of making it there, reaching the tall building in a few short minutes. After taking a second to catch his breath— he might've overdone it a bit— Arashi waved at the guards at each side of the doors on his way in. They showed no outward reaction to his greeting, but Arashi was too happy to care at the moment.

No one turned as he made his way up the tower, something that didn't take very long as he was more than familiar with where everything was. Finally, Arashi stopped in front of a door marked Hokage, not bothering to sit in the waiting room like all the rest who wanted meet with the village leader. The various diplomats and dignitaries, at least the ones who were from other countries and cities, began to complain about his blatant skipping, but the receptionist sitting behind the desk refused to react. His fist ready to knock, Arashi looked over to the receptionist, who was getting hounded left and right, and saw him twitch.

Smiling, Arashi knocked on the door.

Ryuka opened it seconds later. "I'm sorry, but the Hokage is in the middle of an important— Oh, Arashi-chan! Is that what I think it is?"

Without another word, Ryuka grabbed him by the arm and dragged him inside, her smile now reflecting his own. "Minato-sama, look who just graduated!"

Minato looked up at the same time as the man in front of him turned on his seat. Dressed in extravagant robes filled with enough stitched flower petal designs to fill an entire garden, the man was clearly some sort of ambassador for another nation. His plump cheeks reddened at the sight that greeted him.

"Now, Ryuka-san, you're interrupting—"

"Tohuro-san, we can continue our negotiations at a later time," Minato said, sitting up straight and waving at the door. "Please leave."

"Wha— Excuse me?"

"Ryuka, Arashi-kun, if you would show Tohuro-san the way out."

The Hokage's assistant opened the door, and Arashi posed flamboyantly, his hands pointing at it. In complete bewilderment, the ambassador walked out of the room, too caught off guard to feel insulted. The moment he crossed the doorway, Ryuka slammed the door shut and crouched down, cradling Arashi's head between her hands.

"Look at him with his forehead protector! Isn't he cute, Minato-sama? Our little Red-kun finally graduated from the academy!"

Though he was elated at the attention he was getting, Arashi couldn't help but scowl in slight annoyance. "Don't call me that."

Ryuka's hands left his cheeks and started pulling at his deep vermillion hair. "This makes it impossible to not call you Red-kun, Red-kun," she pointed out, smirking down at his pouting face. "And I know you like it~"

"You made me do that after I lost a bet."

"Uh-huh, but that was... What, two years ago? I never forced you to keep dyeing it over and over again."

Blushing, Arashi slapped her hands away. "Sh-Shut up!"

Minato, having come from the other side of the office, pulled Ryuka off the poor boy. "Alright, I think he's had enough," he said, quirking a smile when his assistant let out a playful huff before leaving the room, probably to placate all the guests who were undoubtedly flustered.

Looking more than a little relieved, Arashi followed the Hokage to his desk. They both sat down on either side of it, and Minato took a second to appreciate the headband on Arashi's forehead. "You came pretty quick," he finally said.

Arashi leaned back on his seat and placed his feet on the desk, crossing them over some documents. "That's saying a lot coming from you, Minato-sama."

Minato smirked, his eyes lingering on the paper under Arashi's sandals. "That's a trade agreement with the Hidden Sand you're dirtying up."

Shrugging, Arashi took his feet off the desk. "So, why did you want me to come over here for, again?"

"You don't remember?" Minato shook his head. "Well, I guess it _has_ been almost a year since you asked me..."

The genin shot up, slamming his hands on the desk with a loud bang. "W-Wait! You weren't just joking back then!? You're actually teaching me a technique!?"

Minato stood up and grabbed Arashi's shoulder. "I'm a man of my word aren't I?"

Not a second later, the two planted their feet on the roof of the Hokage Tower. It was empty, circular, and big enough to train in with a railing around its circumference in case anyone were about to fall off. A perfect place to train, at least as long as things didn't get too destructive.

The moment they got there, Arashi fell to his hands and knees. His balance was off, and he was doing all he could to not crumple to the floor. Unfortunately, it was a familiar feeling. After taking a few seconds to recover, he looked up to the Hokage, who had kneeled down and held his back in support.

"I'm never gonna get used to this, am I?" he asked, standing up on wobbly legs.

"Hey, don't say that. At least you didn't barf this time."

"The Hiraishin's cool, but why does it have to make me feel like I just spun around a couple hundred times?" The only good part of it was that the after effects didn't last very long. Arashi could already feel himself getting his bearings. "Freaking teleportation, man. It's not worth it."

Minato turned his back on him, looking off into the distance with a hand on his chin. "It isn't? I suppose you wouldn't want to learn what I'm about to teach you, then."

It was then that an image of himself throwing around tri-pronged kunai and flashing to them popped into Arashi's mind. "... My god."

What was a little bit of dizziness anyway? He could totally deal with that. "It's worth it!" Stars in his eyes, he ran up to Minato and began to jump around, flailing his arms wildly in order to catch the man's attention. "Please teach me, great Minato-sama!"

"Well... Alright."

_The Second Yellow Flash? No, that's not cool at all. The Almighty King of the Hidden Leaf? The Super Deluxe Flash Master Ninja?_

"Then the name of the technique I'm going to teach you..."

_First in my class to make it to jounin, a day after graduation! Suck on that, Sasuke! Rookie of the Year my ass!_

"Is..."

_I'm gonna be the very best, like no one ever was~_

"The Body Flicker Technique!"

Arashi tripped on something, falling flat on his face. Minato had to stifle a chuckle when the genin picked himself back up and clung to his superior's shirt, trying to shake him back and forth. "What do you mean the Body Flicker!?"

The Hokage grabbed Arashi's hands and unattached them from his collar. "Of course the Body Flicker. What did you expect?"

"I expected the fulfillment of my dreams!"

"Do you want to learn it or not? I have better things to do with my time than waste it on some newbie genin..." Minato trailed off, his eyes losing focus. "... Probably. Do I? I need to look at my schedule..."

Sighing, Arashi forced himself to stop frowning. _Well... It's a lot better than what most of the others are getting right out of the academy._ He guessed there would be times like these later on, when he would have to let go of his pride to advance his skills. "Alright, alright, just show me the damn thing already."

"That's quite a tone."

"... Please."

"Ah, that's better, Arashi-_chan_."

"How are _you_ my leader?"

Minato snickered. If only the genin knew how often he was asked that question... "Anyway, before you see it, I need to tell you how it works, don't I?"

"I know how it works... kinda..." And by that Arashi meant he'd heard plenty of stories. It probably wouldn't be enough to convince the Hokage, but he really wanted to get to the more hands-on portion of this little lesson. It wasn't meant to be, however.

"The Body Flicker Technique is one of the simplest there are," Minato said, starting off his lecture. A part of him couldn't help but be brought back to his days as a sensei, except that instead of three ninja getting ready for war, he was teaching a wide-eyed kid who would hopefully never see such a conflict. "Basically, it's just increasing your speed by pumping your body up with chakra. Nothing fancy, really."

Well, it's not like the genin wasn't interested in theory at all. "Ooh! Minato-sama, I have a question!" Arashi exclaimed, waving his hand in the air.

"Arashi-kun... You're not in class. You can just ask me."

With red-tinted cheeks, Arashi brought his arm back down. "Right... Sorry." He chuckled sheepishly. "Uh... What I wanted to ask was... Don't ninja already move around using their chakra? What's the point of making a technique out of it?"

Minato nodded at the question, having expected it. "It's one of the things that confuse a lot of people when they start learning it," he said reassuringly. He then took a moment to consider his answer, looking up at the sky for a minute before turning his head back down. "You're right in a way. There isn't that much of a difference between chakra-enhanced movement and the Body Flicker." The man held up a finger before Arashi could ask another question. "However, there _is_ a difference, and that's why the Body Flicker exists. Tell me, Arashi-kun, what do you know about hand seals?"

The genie sat down with his legs crossed, determining that it would be a while before he'd get to actually perform the technique he was being taught. "We use them for our techniques. Pretty simple."

"Let me rephrase that," Minato said, sitting cross-legged in front of Arashi. "Why are hand seals important? Why do ninja need them so much?"

This material was covered years ago in the academy. It was so basic that Arashi had almost forgotten it because of how early on he had learned it. "Isn't it because..." In a rush, the knowledge came back to him. "Oh, yeah! Hand seals help us control our chakra, right? I mean, not that we can't do that without them, but they make it a lot easier."

With a nod, Minato placed his hands in a tiger seal. "And that's why the Body Flicker is useful. As a technique with hand seals, it induces chakra-enhanced movement more efficiently. That means more chakra in less time, which means that you go faster than you would if you were to just pump chakra into your legs."

It was easy enough to understand. Arashi also found it easy to understand that it couldn't be that simple. "That's cool and everything, but what's the catch? There's gotta be a reason why everyone's not just Body Flickering all over the place."

The comment made Minato smile. It was either born out of intuition or leftover resentment for not being able to learn a prized forbidden technique instead of such a comparatively mundane one. Knowing Arashi, it was most likely the former. "Well that's the question isn't it? The Body Flicker has a weakness, just like every other ninja technique. In this case, it's that continuous use in a short span of time isn't exactly advisable."

Arashi cocked his head. "And why's that?"

Minato held out a hand and began counting. "It takes up more chakra to Body Flicker a certain distance than just running there would, for one. Your legs move at a much quicker pace than normal, which isn't exactly good for your physical stamina. Depending on your opponent, it isn't fast enough for them to completely lose sight of you, forcing most ninja who use this technique to provide some sort of cover, like a puff of smoke." The more flaws he pointed out, the flatter Arashi's expression became, but he didn't notice. "Let's see, what else? Oh! Maintaining control of your chakra at such speeds isn't easy, so most aren't able to hold it together for long. There's a reason it isn't used for long-distance travel, after all."

When it became clear that Minato was well and truly finished, Arashi crossed his arms and gave him a scowl. "And this is what you wanna teach me?"

"It has its uses, believe me."

"Like what?"

"Dramatic exits, for one."

"Well whatever!" Arashi stood up, his arms still crossed, and glared down at the Hokage. "I'm not learning such a shitty technique!"

Minato wasn't perturbed by this in the least. Scratching his cheek, he looked up at his temporary student with half-lidded eyes. "It's what I'm offering. You know, most genin would be happy about such a great graduation gift."

There was no need to say anything beyond that. Arashi wasn't acting spoiled, Minato knew him well enough to know that. After half a dozen years of living on his own, Arashi didn't have the capacity to act spoiled. The Body Flicker was a flawed and unattractive technique, that was the truth of it. That was exactly why it was the perfect one to present Arashi with.

"Chakra isn't a big deal, not for me anyway, so physical stamina's the real problem," Arashi muttered to himself. Minato watched the boy think out loud, not offering any more words.

If he were honest with himself, Minato didn't even have to be there anymore. His explanation had been enough to get the ball rolling, and now it was up to the boy pacing back and forth in front of him to think things through. After all, while most genin would be happy to simply learn the Body Flicker Technique, Arashi was not most genin.

_Too much stress on the legs, right? There has to be a way for me to not use them so much. It isn't fast enough either, so not much of a high-speed technique, huh?_ Arashi almost chuckled out loud at his own inner joke, but was able to hold himself back from looking like a lunatic. _Making it faster would kill the smoke-puff-distraction thing... And the chakra control thing... If it wasn't needed continuously? But how? Maybe... One step?_

Minato only had to see the glimmer in Arashi's eyes to know that he had fulfilled his part in this bargain. "Figured it out, have you?"

"Minato-sama," Arashi said, facing the man with a smirk, "you wouldn't mind teaching me the hand seals for this thing, would you?"

* * *

Minato flashed his winning smile at the ambassador he had recently kicked out of his office. While it was true that most of the people that came to meet him found it to be a great honor, he didn't want to try their patience too much for fear that they'd find him to be too much of a hassle to deal with. "I hope you understand Tohuro-san. It really was a very sudden matter that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible."

The plump man waved him off, showing his own smile, though it was slightly strained compared to how it had been a few hours before. "I understand completely, Hokage-sama. Of course a man in your position has many things that come up." That's when his eye twitched a bit. "Though I don't entirely comprehend why I was given such a... grandiose exit."

Remembering the way Arashi and Ryuka had acted as the ambassador had walked out the door, Minato couldn't help the small bead of sweat that formed on his forehead as he tried to chuckle. "Yes... Those two can be quite inappropriate at times."

"I can see such manners coming from the boy, but Ryuka-san acting that way as well was somewhat unexpected." The ambassador looked around the room, and when he seemed satisfied with what he saw, cupped his hand over his mouth to whisper. "Where is she, by the way?"

"I sent her to file some papers." Because there was no way Minato was letting her anywhere near this man again if he could help it.

Tohuro rested his cheek on his palm, leaning into his seat on the other side of the Hokage's desk. "Not to be rude but... I suppose she isn't very mature."

Minato had to fight hard to keep his amiable expression from shifting into a deadpan. _You have no idea._

"Regardless, now that we have that distraction out of the way, we can finally—"

"Ah... I'm guessing this is a bad time?"

Startled, the ambassador's head whipped over to the window, which was now open and had a man perching on its frame. The Hokage wasn't surprised, having sensed the intruder coming, and having expected the confrontation that would surely follow.

Because despite the hesitance that his words were meant to have, Kakashi Hatake certainly didn't care that he had just interrupted what looked to be an important meeting. In his hand was a rolled up sheet of paper, one that Minato already knew the contents of, and his face, covered as it was, only showed that he was completely serious.

"Wh... What is the meaning of this!?"

Closing his eyes, Minato hung his head with a sigh. _Unlucky guy, twice in one day._ "Heh, um... Tohuro-san, I'm afraid that I need to ask you to leave the room once more."

Tohuro, his shock still present, turned his head to look back at the Hokage. "... You're kidding me."

"Things could get a bit dangerous, so..."

Soon enough, Minato and Kakashi were alone in the Hokage's office, the ambassador having left at incredible speeds for a man of his size.

It was then that the weight of Kakashi's killing intent came down on Minato's shoulders. The silver haired jonin leaped down from the window and unceremoniously dropped the paper in his hand onto the desk. "Mind explaining this, _sensei_?" he said, the one eye he let show behind his mask and headband glaring down at the leader of his village. Nothing else was out of the ordinary, from his posture to the inflection of his voice, but that sole eye was all it took to show Minato that the man before him was not happy.

Now, if Kakashi had actually been angry with him, Minato might've been a little scared. Knowing him as he did, however, the Hokage reflected back on how hard it was to truly anger his old student, and determined that what he faced now was mere irritation at most.

So he decided to respond with a bit of cheek. "Looks like the completely unplanned and randomized names of the graduates that you'll be lucky enough to teach. Isn't that great?"

"Unplanned?"

"Well you weren't planning on it, were you?"

Kakashi paused for a second, trying to make it as obvious as possible that he was not going to respond to that. Coughing into his hand, the masked man held the paper up to his eye. "Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuuga, and Arashi—"

"Yeah, unplanned, isn't it obvious?"

The killer intent, which hadn't been affecting Minato all that much in the first place— seriously, it hadn't. Really— had all but disappeared at this point, and was being replaced by Kakashi's growing dread. "Why are you doing this to me."

The tone of his student's voice had become so flat that it hardly even sounded like a question, and Minato couldn't help but stifle a chuckle at that. "I really don't see what the big deal is here, Kakashi. There's nothing wrong with this."

"There are a million things that are wrong with this."

It was time for Kakashi to make his case, it seemed. Minato smirked. "Like what?"

"Sasuke Uchiha is the sole survivor of his family's massacre. I'm fairly certain he's traumatized for life."

"Aren't we all?"

"That Hyuuga girl stinks of indoctrination. Seriously, it's kind of messed up, and I've seen some really messed up things."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"You of all people should know that Arashi's got major problems to work out. "

"That is correct. Your point?"

Kakashi allowed his eye to twitch once. No matter how annoyed he was right now, there was no way he was sacrificing the unperturbed persona he'd worked so hard to build for himself. "And you think it's a good idea to stick these kids together? Under _me_?"

"Yeah!"

"Are you nuts?"

"N— well, yeah, actually."

And there went that. Minato would obviously not be convinced because of something as minor as having what could only be the most unstable group of children work together under the most unstable jonin in the village.

Only slightly perturbed that all his arguments had thus far been countered near instantaneously, Kakashi furrowed his brow. "I've looked over their scores, you know. Not just the graduation exams, but all their years in the academy. This is probably the most unbalanced genin team I've ever seen." He crossed his arms, giving the Hokage an inquiring look. "The top three students in the class? One of which entered the academy two full years before everyone else and still managed to make the second highest ranking? Doesn't that sound a bit broken to you?"

Minato nodded, actually agreeing with his student this time instead of being sarcastic. "This team is way beyond the others, at least in terms of pure skill." He cocked his head. "So?"

"So? What do you mean 'so?' Isn't that a bad thing?"

"Balanced teams are overrated. They're going to compete with other villages, Kakashi, not each other. Having a team so strong right out of the gate is a good thing for us."

"What about the weaker graduates that aren't getting paired up with their stronger classmates?"

The Hokage shrugged. "They'll just have to work a little harder."

Silence filled the room after that. Kakashi, jonin that he was, knew when he couldn't win. That didn't mean he couldn't whimper a bit more.

"You know sensei... Things have been pretty dull after retiring from ANBU. I think I'll take a mission tomorrow. S-rank. Preferably long term."

"It's funny that you mention it, because I've got a long term S-rank mission right here."

A light of hope? "Oh?"

Minato picked up the team assignment paper on his desk, crushed it between his hands, and threw the bundled ball at Kakashi's face. "You have to teach some twelve-year olds. Boo hoo. Now get out of my office."

* * *

The sensation of parting the wind as he traveled in a way that most people could only dream of...

Arashi really wished he could feel that. Unfortunately, just walking home was proving to be difficult. It wasn't that he was exhausted, something that never seemed to happen, but damned if he wasn't somewhere close to it. As great as he thought his new move was, there was one flaw that he hadn't been able to do anything about. And a flaw it was, because when _he_ of all people started running out of chakra, the cause of the drain couldn't be considered anything less than a problem.

After serious consideration, however, Arashi had come to the conclusion that there was nothing he could do about it. In order to fix the Body Flicker and make it his own, a whole heap of chakra was required, apparently. Oh well, it's not like there was such a thing as a perfect technique.

"At least no one can steal it," Arashi breathed out, glad to have a source of comfort. The curious man that he was, the Hokage had of course performed the technique after Arashi had finished creating it. The process was simple enough, and the theory was easy to understand, so it wasn't hard to imagine even the most inexperienced of academy students being able to do it on the first few tries. It only took Minato one to determine that he would rather never do it again. It would only take most ninja once too, actually, since just that first attempt would probably kill them.

A sudden chill made Arashi grip both his arms close to his chest. Nights could get pretty cold in the Hidden Leaf, but right then there was nothing he could do about it apart from bearing it until he got back home. He couldn't have been the only one to notice that staying out so late would be unpleasant, as the street was completely empty. Only a few houses had their lights on, filling the area with a grayish glow, and the only sounds Arashi could hear apart from his own footsteps were the creaking of hanging store signs and the chirping of crickets.

Now Arashi wasn't very big on movies in general. He hadn't seen many, spending most of his free time on ninja training, but he'd watched enough of them to know what a horror movie looked like. While that didn't exactly scare him, the genin found himself walking faster and whipping his head from side to side whenever he went past an alleyway. Sweat started making its way onto his forehead, and his breathing became rather forced and laborious. He _really_ needed to get home.

The leftover adrenaline from his time spent training that day, added to the overall uncomfortableness of his surroundings, made it inevitable that his shout came out a bit higher pitched than it usually would've when someone called out behind him. At least, that's what he would tell himself in the future.

"What happened to you?"

With a startled shriek, Arashi jumped around to face whatever had crept up behind him.

_White eyes—_

"Don't kill me!" he shouted, throwing his arms up in front of his face. When nothing happened, he looked again and was presented with a blank stare from a girl that looked around his age and most definitely wasn't a monster trying to eat him. "... Uuuuuh..."

Now that he got a closer look at her, Arashi recognized who she was. Pale skin contrasted by long, dark hair, a face that betrayed nothing, and perhaps most memorably, the pupiless eyes that had scared the crap out of him... on multiple occasions...

"Hah... Hinata-san, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that." Sheepishly, Arashi waved hello, something that the Hyuuga seemed to not notice. Or more likely, she just didn't care.

It was always the same with her. Arashi had once thought that he knew some of the most serious people that had ever existed, but compared to Hinata, those people were like little kids playing around with water balloons.

Arashi distinctly remembered the first time she came to class. It was during the time when they had been taught how to handle psychological problems that could arise on the field. After getting a lecture from Iruka to start them off, their sensei had started picking students at random to go to the front of the class and give their own answers. They'd been asked how they would handle the loss of limbs, the aftermath of bloody and gory conflicts, and various other traumatic events.

When Hinata got called up, she was asked what she would do if a comrade died in the middle of a battle. Her answer had been very short.

_"I would burn the body. Can't leave behind any evidence."_

Understandably, Arashi had given her a wide berth ever since.

"Your chakra is nearly depleted."

Hinata's toneless words snapped him out of his thoughts. It took only a second for the boy to glance at the eyes she hid behind her dark blue locks to see the pulsing veins around them. "Do you just go around with those turned on for fun?" he asked, genuinely curious. After a second, Arashi recognized that they probably weren't well enough acquainted to ask each other anything. Instead of discouraging him, this only made him want to explain himself. "I mean, I probably would if I had magic x-ray eyes too."

The Hyuuga deactivated her eyes, which took on a more prominently purplish hue, and tucked the hair covering her face behind her ear. The smooth strands got untucked almost immediately. This was ignored by both of them for entirely different reasons.

"I always activate my byakugan when I sense someone coming close," she said. It was almost robotic, the way she talked. Then again, the Hyuuga were supposed to be like royalty or something, so Arashi figured that was normal for them.

"That's... kinda uncomfortable to think about, actually." Arashi didn't know what to think about how one of his classmates had apparently seen him inside out enough times to probably have memorized him. "Wait, for _everyone_? All the time?"

Without even hesitating, Hinata proceeded to completely change the subject. "You have never depleted your chakra levels to such an extent."

"You're... curious?"

She just stared at him. Arashi unconsciously gulped as he realized that the Hyuuga was all but demanding an explanation out of him. "I guess I never have. Until now, obviously. It happens to everyone, though, so is it really that big of a deal?"

"Your amount of chakra has made it difficult for me to imagine this being possible."

"Jeez, I don't have _that_ much chakra."

"Even now, you have more than me at half capacity."

"You're exaggerating."

Hinata just stared at him again. Right, she wasn't one to exaggerate...

"An-Anyway, what're you doing here? I was getting back from training, but you..." Arashi didn't know how to finish that without sounding presumptuous. Honestly, he hadn't thought that an important person like her was allowed to just wander about on her own without guards or something. Unless...

_Am I being watched right now!?_ Tensing up, Arashi scanned his surroundings, from the rooftops to the shadowed alleyways._They don't see me as a threat, right!? I'm just a kid, aren't I!?_

Not noticing his frazzled state, or perhaps just choosing to ignore it, Hinata once again tried and failed to remove the hair from in front of her eyes. "I only happened to come by here at this time. Us crossing paths was a complete coincidence."

Arashi didn't think he could take much more of this. First the jump scare, then the unusual questions, and now the thought that someone could be watching his every move right then. Just being in this girl's presence was making him nervous. "That's... nice. Well, I think I better get going now. Nice job graduating and all that."

He didn't make it one step before Hinata's voice stopped him cold. "Are you... scared of my eyes?"

The question, at least its wording, sounded strangely vulnerable. Turning to see her, Arashi expected to spot some form of hesitance or doubt on Hinata's features, but there was only the same blank mask as always. It was out of curiosity, then. _I guess that makes sense,_ he thought, a little ashamed of himself. _Freaking out every time I see them must've made some kind of impression._

Sighing, Arashi shook his head. "Nah, they're not scary. I'm just being a dumbass."

"Dumb... Ass?"

Did she not know what that meant?

"Yeah. You know, because I'm being dumb, and I'm being an ass, so I'm a dumbass. Makes perfect sense when you think about it."

"I think I understand."

Arashi nodded, then turned his back to get once home, wanting to finally get some rest. "See you later, I guess." He said lamely, feeling a little awkward. They weren't friends or anything, so they probably wouldn't be seeing each other much now that they didn't have class together, and he wanted to end things on a good note. She was a bit weird, but it really wasn't his problem anymore.

* * *

It felt like Arashi had just closed his eyes when he got woken up by a creak coming from somewhere in his room. Drowsily, he raised his head and looked around. Seeing nothing out of place, the genin yawned before laying back down on his bed, facing the ceiling.

Some guy was there.

_SOMEONE'S IN—_

The man dropped down, holding a kunai in a reverse grip. Arashi rolled the hell off his bed, narrowly dodging a pommel to the forehead.

_THE FUCK!?_

He landed hard on his side, but the pain didn't bother him. Shit hit the fan so suddenly that Arashi couldn't even feel his heart beating in his chest. The genin jumped onto his feet just as the intruder realized that he did in fact miss his target.

Chunin vest, Leaf headband, large sack in his other hand, big enough to completely dwarf him. Arashi couldn't make any more observations before he got tackled to the ground. He couldn't get out, no matter how hard he struggled. His legs were locked down, and the one arm he had free wasn't strong enough to push his captor off him. The guy raised his kunai again, ready to knock him back into dreamland.

"Gotcha!"

_FUCK DO SOMETHING_

Arashi spit right on the man's face. It made the chunin hesitate, stopping the downward arc of his arm and slackening his hold on the boy trapped under him.

_NOW!_

Without another thought, Arashi grabbed the man's hand and drove it back up. The kunai, being held the way it was, got shoved right into its owner's neck.

Alarm, then nothing. The man died almost instantly, his body slumping onto Arashi, who scrambled to get out from underneath it. Stopping just inches from the prone form of the person he had just killed, the genin hugged his knees close to his chest, staring at the expanding pool of blood with wide eyes.

_I just killed a guy._

Arashi threw up on the floor. His stomach must've emptied out, because pretty soon he was dry heaving. When he finally stopped, the genin stayed on his hands and knees, thought after thought racing by in his head.

_Who do I tell? Should I even tell anyone? I just— Fuck, I fucking killed a ninja of the village. What the hell—_

He shut out the panicked notions as soon as he realized that he was shaking. It wouldn't do to freak out right now. Somehow, Arashi had to save that for later and do something about all this. Taking a deep breath, he sat himself down crossed legged and tried to ignore the smell of blood and vomit. He needed to think.

_A chunin broke into my house. He could've easily killed me, but he didn't._ The sack. Arashi's eyes spotted it under the body's arm. It didn't have a spot of red on it yet. _He tried to hit me with the pommel of his kunai. A kidnapping?_ But why would anyone try kidnapping him?

Something shuffled outside, and a whisper made its way through his door. "Yo, Ishi! What's taking so long?"

It felt like falling. All of Arashi's mental faculties simultaneously stopped working, and he couldn't do much more than stare numbly at the closed door as he tried to process that there was another one right outside.

_If he walks in here, I'm dead. If I try to run, he'll catch me, and I'm dead. Either way, this guy's gonna kill me._ He was sure of that at least. Whatever their plan had been for him, it surely hadn't included one of them being offed. _Move._ His body was still paralyzed. A creeping cold was making its way through him, keeping his limbs locked tight. But he couldn't die here. _MOVE!_

Arashi sprang to his feet, dashing over to pull the large sack from the chun— Ishi's dead body. He couldn't just walk out, obviously, so he needed a plan. Unfortunately, what his fear addled mind had come up with might only end up delaying the inevitable.

The genin took the pillows on his bed and stuffed them in the sack as quickly as he could. He held it out, trying to imagine himself taking up the same amount of space. He grimaced. _Hopefully he won't notice._

With all that done, Arashi looked down at the man he'd killed. The skin was already starting to pale, and his eyes were wide open, forever expressing his shock. Good, Arashi needed to know their color.

Short black hair. Brown eyes. Long face with a pointy nose. A thin scar just below his lower lip.

**"Transformation."**

In a puff of smoke, the form of Ishi the chunin stood where Arashi's once did. He slung the bag over his shoulder, careful to not cancel his illusion. Grabbing the door knob, Arashi paused just as he was about to turn it, a jolt of terror coursing through him. _T__he moment I open this door..._ He tried to quiet his increasingly frenzied breathing. _I could die. I could actually die right now._

He'd been in the academy for six years training to be a ninja, and right then, in that one moment where his hands clutched the knob, Arashi realized how unprepared he was. He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready to stare death in the face.

_But I can't stay._ And with that thought, Arashi opened the door and walked out before he could change his mind.

Immediately upon walking through the door, Arashi closed it, making sure that whoever was waiting for him wouldn't see their dead comrade on the floor. Giving himself the calmest expression he could manage, he then turned around and came face to face with the one who would most likely try to kill him.

She was a chunin also if her vest meant anything. Somewhat short, to the point that she couldn't be more than a dozen or so centimeters taller than Arashi as himself, making him at least a head and a half taller than her at the moment. She grinned when she saw him, and the genin couldn't help but blush a little. He would've definitely thought she was cute if he weren't so terrified of her.

"You were there a while. Don't tell me a kid gave you so much trouble." Her tone was teasing in a way that made him think she would do something a lot worse than kill him if she found out the truth.

He opened his mouth and... Shit, what did the guy's voice sound like again?

_"Gotcha!"_

Surprisingly high pitched. Sounded a bit cocky too, so that might be useful to know. "N-No problem," he said, his voice breaking.

The woman gave him a strange look, her grin fading slightly.

Arashi held his breath.

"Pffft, he did, didn't he? You're really out of shape!"

Relief flooded his senses.

"Come on, let's get out of here before any ANBU show up." The woman headed to the window, which Arashi noted was open, and leapt out of it, not bothering to look back or wait for him. It took a second for the genin come to his senses and follow her.

They went from roof to roof until they reached the forest, after which they traveled by jumping from tree branch to tree branch. The speed the chunin set seemed almost casual, her movements fluid and completely relaxed. The same could not be said for him, however, especially while carrying a bag over his shoulder and keeping his transformation up. Not to mention how he hadn't had nearly enough sleep to replenish his energy from the training the day before.

"How much—" Pathetically, Arashi ran out of breath. He coughed, trying to pass it off. "How much time do we have?" He had to be smart about the questions he asked. The answers he wanted— why he was getting kidnapped, who these people were— would already be known by the one he was impersonating.

"I'd say about... five, maybe six minutes?" There was something strange about the inflection of her voice. Was this something he was supposed to know already? Did he screw up on his first attempt at gathering information? "Mizuki caused a bigger uproar than we thought he would. Looks like that scroll he wanted to steal was as important as he thought." She laughed at that, and Arashi forced a chuckle out of himself in case it was some sort of inside joke.

But this was good. It seemed like the chunin didn't suspect him after all. Before he lost the surge of confidence he'd gotten, Arashi nudged his head at the bag he carried. "He'll be wishing he'd tried for this guy instead, I bet."

Smiling, the chunin nodded at him. "I'd hope so! Forbidden techniques are good, but nothing can beat out a jinchuuriki."

Arashi almost dropped the bag. He had to fumble for it in midair.

"Man, you really _are_ out of shape," the chunin said, not quite as jokingly as before. "Seriously, are you coming down with something?"

"Don't worry about it." He panted, almost stumbling on the next branch. With the way they were jumping, making a mistake like that would've ended badly to say the least.

That look again. Arashi thought he'd been getting used to the constant fear of getting caught, but it was with that look that he got slammed back into it. "Look, it's okay if you got hurt. We can take a few seconds to make sure you're not too bad off, at least."

Oh, she was just worried. For her friend. Who he killed. Huh.

He remembered himself before the silence stretched out too long. "I-It's no big deal, but..." The chunin was already jumping down onto solid ground before he was able to finish. "... Alright then."

Truth be told, Arashi was thankful for the rest, even if it was only a few moments. He thought this even as he spotted the woman he'd been following standing on the grass with her back facing him, the tall trees of the forest covering her from the moonlight of nighttime. This is why he was surprised when, as he reached her, she swung at him with a backhand.

It was strong. Arashi would've probably gotten knocked out just like that if it weren't for the fact that he had held the bag to his chest as he hopped down to ground level. When it hit, Arashi stumbled back while the pillows inside the bag exploded, their feathers drifting lazily to the floor.

There was no thought. Before he knew what was happening, Arashi crouched under the follow up hook that would've most likely left him with a broken nose. Unfortunately, he didn't see the sweeping back kick that came after that. A heel planted itself firmly on his cheek, and he was sent off his feet, the force of the hit dragging him along the ground until he collided against a tree.

In a puff of smoke, his disguise was gone.

That hurt. It hurt more than anything he'd ever felt before. Nothing he got while sparring at the academy compared to the sting he felt on the right side of his face. The sound of cracking knuckles drew his attention away from such trivial things, however.

As Arashi struggled to get back on his feet— using the trunk behind him for support— the chunin walked over to him with an expression of what could only be contempt.

"At this point, you're probably wondering what gave you away, right?" she asked, just as cheery as when he'd first met her. "Apart from how hard it was for you to keep up with me and the pathetic amount of tension, obviously."

Arashi didn't bother to pay attention to what she was saying. The fear he'd held since all of this started had reached its peak. It was now or never. Do or die. On his feet once more, he started doing hand seals, the pain he was in making him much slower than what he would've preferred.

"I've known Ishi for a long time, and if there's anything I've learned about him it's that he's, more than anything else, a whiny little _bitch_." She smirked, not missing the hand signs. "He would've been complaining the entire way here, but you decided to act tough instead. Look at you, thinking that you could get one over on a veteran ninja like me. Even now you still think you can do something."

So she had him pegged the entire time? Figures.

She was right about one thing at least. Arashi was just a genin, a new one at that. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that he stood a chance against her. That's why he wasn't going to fight her at all.

The chunin's smirk dropped when she saw the beat up kid charge at her. Her hand slid to her hip, and in an instant a kunai rested between her fingers. When he got close enough, she stabbed at him faster than the eye could see...

... only to splinter a wooden log. When she realized what had happened, the woman went from shock to amusement. She laughed, pulling her weapon out of the log and looking around her at the dark forest. "Making me think you were trying to attack only to use a replacement to get away? That's pretty clever for a newbie." She already knew he was hiding behind the tree just a few feet away from her. Now that she had the time to, though, it was about time to ask few questions. "So tell me, how'd you beat Ishi? He wasn't bad enough to lose to some brat."

No response. The chunin sighed, knowing it wasn't going to be that easy. Answering her would've only revealed his location. At least, that's what Arashi was most likely thinking.

He really thought he was that good? "You know, a conversation needs at least two people to work. I already know where you are."

She stood, putting away her kunai as the silence stretched on. Finally, in what couldn't have been considered more than a whisper, he spoke.

"I killed him."

"... Huh." That wasn't exactly what she was expecting. Her heart constricted for the briefest of seconds before she held it down. "Hey, brat... My name's Yuna. I just wanted you to know before I stick a knife in your gut."

Two Arashis ran from behind the tree in opposite directions. Yuna watched them go, noting the pristine blades of grass they left in their wake. _The Clone Technique? I bet he was hoping I wouldn't notice that they didn't have any shadows because it's so dark,_ she thought, advancing on the tree he had been hiding behind. _Trying to lure me away while he stays in place. This kid's not bad, but he really underestimates what a chunin is capable of._

When she reached the tree, Yuna looked down at its base and found her target. He was sitting, his back propped up against the trunk, looking lifelessly ahead. Frowning, the chunin went to grab him, but her hand went right through his shoulder.

_Another clone!?_ She took a step back, her mind working overdrive. Arashi was gone, that was clear, but he couldn't have ran in any direction she would've seen him from. That meant... _I couldn't see him from behind the tree. He must've used it as cover while I got distracted by those other clones. Clever little punk..._

Arashi ran harder than he ever had in his life. He'd long ago stopped trying to calm his racing heart, deeming it an impossible task, and focused on getting back to the village before he got skewered. His little trick wasn't going to stop a chunin for long, but it had given him precious few seconds to work with.

A trail of shuriken sunk into the ground in front of him, stopping the genin on his tracks. Before he could even blink, Yuna landed next to him and, her body twisting around, dug a fist in his stomach. His body was lifted into the air by the sheer strength of it.

The boy stumbled back, holding his abdomen. Darkness clouded his sight, and... he couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe! No matter what he told his nose, it wouldn't inhale. He fell, the previously thrown shuriken just inches from his head, his mouth open in a mute scream.

"You'd have turned out a nice ninja if I wasn't about to kill you," Yuna told him, kneeling down in front of his prone body.

Arashi finally drew a deep breath, his lungs hungrily filling themselves. Only then did he feel something prickling at his side. His hand moved.

"And if I took you to Orochimaru-sama, he'd be really grateful that I brought him something like you. Really, there's a whole bunch of things you could do alive." She had a kunai on hand again, raised over her head. "But Ishi's dead because of you."

A shuriken. He'd landed on a shuriken, and it cut deep. Arashi yanked it out.

When Yuna brought the kunai down, Arashi acted. He swung the shuriken in his hand in a wide arc, not caring that the sharpened star dug into his palm as he did so. The chunin reacted, jumping and landing several feet away.

"I'm... not... dying." Arashi stood up. His right cheek was bruised at best, his breaths were still ragged, and blood dripped from where he'd gotten cut. Even still, he dropped the shuriken and brought his hands together in a tiger sign.

Yuna put one hand on her hip, her head cocked sideways. "Yeah you are. Look, brat, I don't care what kind of technique you're getting ready for. It can't save you."

"C-Can't it?" he gasped out. He didn't know if he had enough chakra for it, his interrupted sleep not having replenished his reserves much, and he didn't know if he would even get her with it, but it was his only shot. He'd tried tricking her and he'd tried outrunning her, but neither had worked. "I have this new one I made. Haven't thought of a name yet, but... I guess I can show you anyway."

Yuna smirked, shaking her head. "At least you'll die fighting, then. Maybe you can find some good in that."

Arashi smirked too, despite everything. _This probably isn't gonna work..._

His chakra depleted. He took a step forward.

Yuna was blasted back, flying through the air until she crashed into a tree. She couldn't move. It took a moment to realize that quite a few of her ribs were now broken. Her entire chest had collapsed in on itself, now that she took the time to feel it.

Arashi lay on the ground, completely spent, not ten centimetres from her, his closed fist extended.

She stared at him, her eyes wide. His voice sounded out, knocking her out of her stupor.

"So... What'd you think?"

A few laughs followed that question, and then they stopped. He fainted, his injuries and lack of chakra knocking him out cold.

The chunin wanted to go to him, to stab a kunai deep in his skull. Her body wouldn't move, however. _One hit. One hit is all it took. What kind of monster..._

The ANBU arrived a few minutes later.

* * *

"So..."

"... Yeah..."

Minato didn't remember being this uncomfortable with Arashi since those first few months when they were starting to get to know each other. The fact that he was sitting at the genin's bedside in the hospital didn't help.

Coughing into his hand, the Hokage decided to just skip the comforting and head straight to the reporting. "About the body found in your room..." Arashi flinched, making Minato flinch in return. "It's been removed, and the blood got cleaned up. No need to worry about any maggots or anything."

Arashi would've usually laughed at that. It was a bit dark, sure, but the boy would've still considered it funny. Not this time, though. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the body in question had gotten a kunai shoved in its throat by him.

"What about..." Arashi's hand went to the icepack bandaged on his cheek. "What about Yuna?"

"Yuna?" Minato scratched his blonde hair, but then perked up when he recognized who they were talking about. "Oh, you mean the other chunin. She..." He trailed off, finding himself at a loss for words. "... She was... The ANBU found her too late."

Arashi looked down at his hands. "That means I killed two people tonight," he mumbled.

They sat like that, in unnerving silence. Minato decided that maybe skipping the comforting might've been a bad move. "Arashi—"

"I know," the boy interrupted, not raising his head. It made his hair cover his eyes somewhat, making it hard to see exactly how he was feeling. "They were traitors. They deserved what they got."

"But that doesn't bring you any peace, does it?" Minato asked. It seemed like he'd be having this conversation once more. Having to go through it three different times prior to this had given him a good impression of how he wanted to go about it.

Arashi did look up at that. "... No," he said, because even then he couldn't be anything but honest to the man sitting next to him.

Minato smiled with not a shred of happiness. It was the kind of rueful smile he had gotten used to giving after decades of living as a ninja. "The guilt you're feeling right now... People say it goes away with time. After a while, it fades, and you accept what you've done."

The genin lay down on the bed, turning his head to rest on its side while he looked at the Hokage. "And what do _you_ say?"

_Give it to him to see where this is going,_ Minato thought, smirking a bit. "I say that the only way to stop feeling guilty about killing is to get used to it. Once your body count starts stacking up, you eventually stop seeing them as people and start seeing them as numbers."

Arashi stared at him, his face impassive. "That kinda sucks," he said, breaking eye contact. His head shifted until he was looking up at the ceiling. "Is that the only way, then? To stop caring about it?"

"The only way I've seen that works so far," Minato answered. "It does suck, but so does living with blood on your hands and feeling bad about it. At the end of the day, it's up to you to decide what you think is worse."

"Up to me, huh?" Arashi closed his eyes and covered them with his forearm. "What about you? What did you decide on?"

"I've ended more people in one day than most have in their entire lifetime," Minato said. It wasn't really his choice when it happened, and it was more complicated than the way he'd said it, but it was still true.

"You're a pretty sad guy," Arashi said, his eyes still covered.

"I know."

"... Thanks, Minato-sama. I..." A stream of tears steadily made their way from Arashi's closed eyes to the pillow under his head. "I..."

Minato shushed him, placing a hand on the boy's head and stroking his hair. "It's alright, Arashi-kun. You can cry."

The genin didn't move from his spot on the bed, and he didn't remove his arm from in front of his face, but he did let himself cry. That's what made Minato decide that he needed to know. Because it wasn't fair to Arashi that he'd been through something like that without knowing why.

"I think it's time to tell you what really happened on the day you were born."

* * *

**AN:**

**And so another chapter ends with Arashi crying. He's not a baby, guys. Promise.**

**Hey, anyone know why Orochimaru never tried to go for Naruto in canon? I mean, for a guy seeking power, you'd think he'd be very interested in someone with a freaking demon in their gut. Doesn't even have to be Naruto, really. I can think of at least two other Jinchuuriki he could've gotten easily just off the top of my head.**

**As for Arashi's technique... It does have its flaws. Like, it one-hit KO'd a chunin, but I swear it's not unbeatable. That won't stop Arashi from thinking it is.**

**And here you have your first glimpse of how Hinata turned out. See, **_**now**_** you can throw rocks. Her character will definitely be OOC, though it is justified by what happened those few years between the last chapter and this one. Being a stalker with a crush didn't really sit well with me anyway, so I'm actually kind of excited to see what I can do with her. One of the most wasted characters in canon by far.**

**Next time, the motherfucking A-team is formed, then proceeds to be exactly as dysfunctional as Kakashi knew they would be. Poor guy.**


	5. Perfect Match

Guess what I don't own? Don't worry, I'll wait.

...

Naruto. I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Perfect Match**

* * *

Arashi leaned back on his seat, legs crossed and feet planted on his desk, one arm supporting the rest of his body as he balanced himself on the two back legs of his chair. After an hour of experimentation, he'd determined that this was the most comfortable sitting position.

Really, he had no idea how the other two did it. Hinata and Sasuke had both stayed the same way throughout their long wait, barely twitching. While the Hyuuga heiress sat with her back straight and her hands pressed against the table in what could only be the epitome of dignity, the last of the Uchiha slouched slightly on his seat, his fingers intertwined and holding up his head by the chin. The two either considered themselves too high and mighty to shift around a bit, or they had literal buns of steel.

Whatever, it wasn't his problem, new teammates or not. Bored out of his mind, and cursing whoever his sensei was for making them wait so damn long, Arashi took out a kunai from his pack and began twirling it around his finger by the ring. Because why not.

"You should stop doing that."

_Someone talked?_ It took Arashi a moment to snap out of his daze, but when he did he remembered the voice to be Hinata's.

It was surprising. Needless to say, after being left alone with the creepy Hyuuga and Sasuke of all people, he hadn't been expecting any kind of conversation. The fact that they were all sitting as far away from each other as they possibly could more or less highlighted that.

Arashi didn't stop, but he did hang his head over the back of his chair, looking upside down at Hinata, who was sitting a few rows behind him. "And why's that?"

Pale eyes examined him, then focused on the spinning kunai. "It could slip from your finger and impale itself on any of us."

"... Don't really see your point." The spinning intensified.

Her expression didn't falter, meaning that it stayed as blank and emotionless as ever. "My point is that it is a needless danger. Weapons shouldn't be played with as if they were toys."

"So you're saying I should stop 'cause it's dangerous."

"Yes."

"And I shouldn't do dangerous things."

"Correct."

"In fact, it'd be pretty smart if none of us did something dangerous right now, wouldn't you say?"

"I concur."

"Well then I guess we should all just quit as ninjas now, right? I mean, being trained mercenaries isn't exactly the safest career." His finger was actually starting to hurt a little because of all the twirling, but he didn't let that stop him.

Hinata didn't say anything for a while, and Arashi grinned at her, thinking that he must've left her speechless. Of course, this was not the case at all. While the Hyuuga had plenty of rebukes to his statement, most of which would leave him questioning his every decision since the moment of his birth, she settled for something much simpler.

"... Dumbass."

Arashi almost fell off his seat. Almost. The chair he sat on wobbled a bit until he got it back in control, and it was honestly pretty amazing that he was still spinning the kunai by the time he did. "H-Hey, you can't call me that! _I_ taught you that!"

"You are doing reckless things, and acting in a way that most would find irritating." Her voice was unapologetic. "You are a dumbass."

The jinchuuriki sputtered. He stood from his seat, kunai still spinning, and slammed his hand on the desk. Arashi then looked down towards Sasuke, who had yet to react to anything that had happened in the past couple of minutes."Sasuke, back me up here!"

No reaction.

"Don't be foolish. Sasuke-san would agree with me on this matter, right Sasuke-san?"

No reaction.

"Sasukeeee."

"Sasuke-san."

"Sasukeeeeeeeeee."

"Sasuke-san."

The peak of Sasuke's hatred had already been reached long ago, and the Uchiha was fairly certain than nothing would ever surpass it, but by god were the two behind him coming close. As he looked out the window, Sasuke tried to push those feelings aside.

"Sasukeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—

"Sasuke-san—

_Ignoreignoreignoreignoreignoreignoreignore—_

In that moment, the door opened. Also in that moment, Arashi's finger slipped. The kunai lodged itself nanometers away from the head that was popping out of the doorway, managing to cut off a few silver strands of hair.

Everyone froze. Well, at least Arashi did, since he was the only one really moving around. Hinata of course didn't seem concerned at all, while the accidental near death of someone was enough for Sasuke to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

The man who had walked into almost getting a knife stuck in his head was difficult to gauge, as his face was mostly covered by his headband and a mask, but his one visible eye was adequately wide.

"... My first impression of you is... Wow. Just... Wow."

* * *

Kakashi sat in front of his new students, patting his hair. That kunai had messed up his carefully constructed style, which frustrated him, but that wasn't something he wanted to show. Hinata, Sasuke, and Arashi sat in front of him, with the Hyuuga and the jinchuuriki at either side of the Uchiha. While the two heirs of their respective clans looked aloof, Arashi had been giving him a nervous smile from the moment he reached the academy's rooftop.

"So, you guys might be wondering why I brought you up here."

No one said anything. _Not the greatest of meetings,_ Kakashi thought, scratching the back of his head. "Okay... I figured that before anything else, we should introduce ourselves. You know, names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, that sort of thing."

For the first time, Sasuke's voice made itself heard. Probably because he was finally talking to someone who didn't seem so infuriating. "Shouldn't you go first then? We don't know anything about you."

The jonin set his half-lidded eye to the sky, tapping his chin. "Sure, I guess. My name's Kakashi Hatake. I like some things... I have some hobbies... As for my dream..." He shrugged, looking back down at the three kids who were all deadpanning at him. "Yeah. Your turn, ginger."

Arashi placed his cheek on his hand, his arm leaning on his folded knee. "Nope, that was bullshit. Try again."

Kakashi blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You're my sensei now, so I've gotta learn from you. If I applied what I just learned, my introduction would go something like, 'My name's Arashi, and pretty much that's all I'm gonna tell you.'" Arashi waved his hand dramatically, gesturing for Kakashi do it again. "Not exactly the best way to go about things, right? So..."

_And so the worst type of student shows himself._ Kakashi sighed, knowing that trying to fight this would only waste more time. "Alright, alright. My name's Kakashi Hatake, Kakashi-sensei to you, because, you know, you're supposed to respect me." He threw a pointed look at Arashi, who grinned back at him. "I like being cool, hip, and trendy." A chuckle escaped him there, but none of the kids had any idea what that meant. "I dislike it when someone almost stabs me in the face." Another pointed look at Arashi, and this time there was no grin in response. "I read in my spare time, but you're not allowed to ask what I read about. And as for my dream... Well, it's too late for that. Okay, your turn now."

Arashi got caught by surprise at the suddenness, but he couldn't avoid this a second time. "Oh! Um... Call me Arashi. I guess my likes are—"

"Wait, hold on." Kakashi held up a hand, looking over at the jinchuuriki with a furrowed brow. "What about your last name?"

Red bloomed on Arashi's cheeks. He scratched the tip of his nose, giving his teacher a nervous smile. "Ah, about that—"

"It's apparently too embarrassing," Sasuke said. Though he was still glaring at seemingly nothing, it was softer than usual. The closest thing to amusement he would show.

Kakashi cocked his head. "Really?" he asked disbelievingly, because honestly, it wasn't _that_ bad.

That just made Arashi feel indignant. "What does it matter? Didn't you already read our files or whatever?"

"I did, but it's just weird you don't introduce yourself with your full name."

Hinata threw in her own two cents. "I don't find anything unusual in your last name, Arashi-san."

"That's not very reassuring coming from you..."

Coughing into his hand, Kakashi got Arashi's attention. "We're getting off track."

Grumbling, Arashi continued. "Anyway, I like walking around the village and cleaning up my dirty apartment. I don't like it when people lie to me." A faraway look came into his eyes when he said that, but it was gone as soon as it came. "My hobbies are dancing and playing board games—"

"Dancing?" Kakashi snickered. "And you think your last name is embarrassing?"

"I got tricked into it, okay!?" Damn Ryuka, forcing him to be her dance partner just because no one else wanted to, and for good reason. It only took two minutes with her to realize that getting the hell out of dodge would be the wisest course of action, but seeing as this was Ryuka, escape wasn't an option for him. "And will you stop interrupting me!?"

"Sorry, sorry."

"_Anyway_, my dream is to... My dream is..." Arashi looked up at the sky, thinking. Eventually, he just shrugged his shoulders and let out a breath. "I dunno, I guess I don't really have one yet."

"That's perfectly fine," Kakashi said. "You're still young, so there's no rush. You're next, duckbutt."

"I knew I wasn't the only one!"

Sasuke ignored Arashi's commentary. He crossed his arms, determined to get through this and into actual training as soon as possible. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone."

Once he finished, Arashi immediately turned to Kakashi, pointing a thumb at Sasuke. "He likes tomatoes and doesn't like fangirls. As for hobbies, I don't know but I'm assuming it has something to do with angsting and brooding all day. The guy he wants to kill is his bro."

The jinchuuriki got hit by the deadliest glare of his life, to which he responded by rolling his eyes before sending one back. "Oh come on, that was all true."

"It isn't about whether or not it's true. My secrets are mine to keep."

"Dude, literally _everyone_ knows that you want to kill your brother."

Sasuke frowned, turning away from his teammate. "No they don't."

"Kakashi-sensei, you knew about it, right?"

The jonin raised a finger. "Yeah, I knew."

"Hinata?"

"I was able to come to that conclusion, yes."

"See?"

"Arashi," Sasuke groaned, just about done with having to deal with this. "Shut up."

Before the jinchuuriki could make any sort of comeback, Kakashi pointed at Hinata. "You're last... Um... Hmm..."

Sasuke and Arashi looked at each other, confused. "What's wrong, sensei?" Arashi asked.

"Can't think of a derogatory nickname..."

"My name is Hinata Hyuuga," she said, not at all incited at how her own sensei had been thinking on how to best insult her. "My likes are success and efficiency. My dislikes are failure and incompetence. My hobbies include gardening, painting, archery, calligraphy, knitting, singing, birdwatching, horse riding—"

Kakashi threw up his hands. "That's more than enough!"

"... Very well. My dream is to become a Clan Head that my family can be proud of."

So these were his students. A smart mouth with no sense or care for what was appropriate, an avenger with more than a small inclination to the overdramatic, and a noble who couldn't be teased despite anyone's best efforts. Thank god there was another test after this.

Oh right, he hadn't told them yet. "Now that that's done, you should know that there's another test after this." There, now no one could say that he was being unfair.

All of them were shocked to hear that they weren't quite done with their examinations just yet. Well, all of them except for Hinata, but that went without saying at this point.

"W-What do you mean there's another test!?" Arashi rose to his feet, with Sasuke following his lead not a second later. "I thought we were already genin! The hell are these headbands for, then!?"

Sasuke scowled at the jonin, appearing to only be annoyed, though the slight shifting of his feet told Kakashi that the last Uchiha was more nervous than he let on. "No one told us about this in the academy."

"That's because it's not an academy test. See, that graduation exam you guys passed is there to show who's got the_potential_ of being genin. Jonin senseis get the chance to see who can actually be a good one." Both Arashi and Sasuke looked less than happy at the perceived trickery, but Kakashi regarded them both with apathy. Being mad at the situation wouldn't change it. "I guess you could call this the _real_ genin test."

Hinata, her voice as calm and controlled as always, spoke up from her seated position. "What are the parameters of the test, Kakashi-sensei?"

The jonin nodded at her, glad that at least one of them was able to look at things objectively and deal with things as they were. "I'll tell you before we begin. It's getting late, though, so we'll have to do it tomorrow. Meet me in training ground three at seven in the morning. Don't be late." He stood up and turned around, prepared to leap off the roof. Just before he did, Kakashi turned to look back at them with his one eye. "Oh, and you're not allowed to have breakfast. If you do it's instant disqualification."

He sped away, leaving the three genin to stare at his retreating form. They stood silently for a few moments until Sasuke glanced over at Arashi, his scowl easing off.

"So, dancing?"

"Shut up, duckbutt."

* * *

Arashi walked into the training field, his hands stuffed in his pockets. It was an open field surrounded by thick forest on three sides, with a lake rounding out the fourth. Pretty big, and there was a section he couldn't see as it pushed into the forest, but the jinchuuriki didn't really feel like walking all the way over there just to see what was in it.

"Hn."

Pausing mid-step, Arashi turned his head to see that Sasuke was already there, leaning on a tree with his arms crossed and one of his feet propped up. Just the sight of his face made the jinchuuriki go on all out assault mode.

"Was that supposed to be some kind of hello? What, can't risk using your genius vocal cords for more than one syllable at a time?" Arashi's eyes took in the Uchiha's positioning, snorting as he leaned back on a tree just opposite of his teammate's, across the path to the training field. "And what's up with that pose? You decided to try out for modeling?"

Sasuke blinked. Out of all the things he had been expecting that morning, getting snapped at by Arashi certainly wasn't in the list. "That was surprisingly nasty coming from you," he noted, not really angry at Arashi's comments. It took more than that to get a rise out of him.

Sighing, the redhead breathed deeply before looking somewhat remorseful. "You're right. Sorry about that, it's just—" a monstrous growl ripped it's way out of his stomach, making Arashi grab at his belly and slide down along the tree trunk until he sat against it. "I'm starving! I knew I should've had a big dinner yesterday!"

"Why didn't you, then?"

Arashi propped his elbow up on his raised knee, scowling up at Sasuke while painfully trying to ignore the emptiness of his stomach. "Cause food costs money, and you might not know this, but not everyone has a bank account the size of the Hokage Monument."

Sasuke stilled, closing his eyes and not moving an inch. Warily, Arashi gave the other boy a confused look before he winced, having realized what he just said. Of course the Uchiha had a lot of money. Several dozen inheritances would do that.

He'd gotten too comfortable. Being with Sasuke had made him feel nostalgic in a way, and Arashi had found himself running his mouth without restraint like he used to when in the company of his friend. But they weren't friends anymore.

Where was their sensei? Arashi hadn't arrived too early, he knew. Being in uncomfortable silence with someone who didn't want anything to do with him was starting to get... well, uncomfortable. "Damn, what time is it?" he muttered under his breath.

"It should be seven as we speak," a new voice spoke out. The two boys turned their heads and saw Hinata walking over, expressionless as always. She stopped just before walking in between them, not bothering to even nod in greeting. "I made sure to arrive just in time."

Sighing, Arashi slumped forward. "All we're missing is Kakashi-sensei." He gave Hinata a questioning look. "He should be coming over any second now. Can you see him with your eagle vision thing?"

"Eagle vision?" Sasuke asked, because really, what was that even supposed to mean?

"You know, 'cause she can see from every direction or whatever. Like when eagles look down and see everything below them."

"That's called bird's eye view. And I don't think it even works like that."

Hinata decided to interject. "My byakugan grants me a 360 degree field of vision. It is nothing like a bird's eye view." She looked down at Arashi, some strands of hair falling over her face in the process. "Dumbass."

"What the hell!? Stop calling me that!"

Veins grew around Hinata's eyes, bulging as her lavender irises expanded and shifted into an intense white. After a few seconds, she blinked and deactivated her byakugan. Her hand came up, arm straight, and pointed at a seemingly random direction behind Sasuke. "It's right at the edge of my range, but I can see Kakashi-sensei standing over there. I believe he's waiting for us."

Arashi, still feeling some shivers at seeing the girl turn on her eyes, stood up and stretched his back, interlocking his fingers and throwing them up to the sky. "Let's get going, then," he grunted out. Putting his hands back in his pockets, he began walking through the woods to where his sensei was.

Without a word, Hinata followed after him, not sparing Sasuke a glance. Seeing as the others left, the Uchiha gave an annoyed scoff before taking after them.

"So what do you think the test is gonna be?" Arashi asked, kicking a rock over a protruding tree root.

"We'll know soon enough," Sasuke said.

Arashi frowned at him from the corner of his eye. "Duh, but what do you think it's gonna be?"

"Kakashi-sensei will most likely evaluate us on our combat capabilities," Hinata said, walking through the uneven terrain with practiced grace. She wasn't even looking down to make sure she stepped over any obstacles. "The academy graded us on individual skills. It would make sense if the 'true genin test' required us to prove that we can use those skills on the field."

"That's true!"

"Then again, it's also possible that I'm completely wrong and the test is something else entirely."

When Arashi went to kick the rock again, it spun out of his planned trajectory and disappeared through some bushes. "Aw..."

Sasuke shook his head, then went to tighten his loose headband before it slid off. "I don't think it's that simple. If we have to prove that we can be genin, there's probably some kind of trick to it."

A groan erupted from Sasuke's stomach as soon as he finished his hypothesis. He fought hard to keep his constant scowl up, and did a good job of it too, but his ears lit up like cherries. Arashi, as expected by anyone who knew him for more than a few seconds, burst into laughter. That is until his own hunger growled.

"If we're lucky, the test'll be an eating contest," the jinchuuriki muttered. He narrowed his eyes at Hinata, who didn't appear affected by any lack of breakfast. "Aren't you hungry? Unless you cheated and ate something this morning..."

Hinata's eyes fixed themselves on him, and Arashi found cover behind Sasuke. "Of course I'm hungry. It's a common symptom amongst us humans who haven't eaten."

If he didn't know any better, Arashi would've thought that she was being sarcastic. "You're human?" he mumbled under his breath.

"Yes." It seemed like her sight wasn't the only superhuman sense. Which he should've known, seeing as they were ninja. Whatever, not like she cared anyway.

When they came upon open field again, they saw their new sensei standing some yards away, facing some big stone sticking out of the ground. Behind him was a row of three training posts, with boxed lunches on top of the outer two.

Arashi had to physically stop himself from starting a mad dash to the food, appeasing himself by staring longingly at it as he and his teammates went up to Kakashi. When the man didn't turn around, he took the initiative, not being able to handle it anymore. "Oi, Kakashi-sensei! If you're not gonna give us the test, I'll just go eat."

_They actually came looking for me?_ Kakashi thought, still not turning to greet them. No other team's done that before for some reason. _And here I was hoping to make them wait an hour or two..._ His shoulders slumped. While his constant tardiness didn't actually have all that much to do with being lazy, he hadn't exactly been looking forward to dealing with the three behind him.

"Alright," the jonin finally said, facing them. "Before you three start a long tangent about absolutely nothing and waste my time, I'll just explain what you'll be doing right now."

"We don't start long tangents, right?"

"Based on our past interactions—"

"The point of this test is this." Kakashi held up two short strings, with small golden bells hanging from their ends. "To pass, you must have a bell in your possession by the time the alarm rings."

Arashi looked around. "What alarm?"

"This alarm." With his other hand, Kakashi held up an alarm clock.

"Where did that even come from?"

The jinchuuriki's question went unanswered as Sasuke asked one of his own. "If we pass by holding a bell, why aren't there three of them?"

Kakashi tied the two bells on his belt, the alarm clock he had been holding out of sight once more. "Yeah. Only two of you can pass this test."

"Only two?" Arashi stepped forward, not liking his sensei's habit of holding back information until the absolute last minute. "What happens if we don't pass?"

"You get sent back to the academy."

Like lightning, realization dawned on the three genin. Arashi and Sasuke gave each other wary looks, while Hinata stared ahead, nonplused.

_So this is the trick Sasuke was talking about,_ Arashi thought, his eyes narrowed. _And Hinata was right, we _are_ being tested on combat. It's just that it's against each other. Well sorry, but I'm not going back to the academy after making it this far._

_Arashi doesn't take anything seriously._ Hinata had been his classmate for four years though, and knew that there was more to the redhead than met the eye. _He's a threat and not to be underestimated. and then there's Sasuke..._ It looked like things were going to get rough in the next few minutes.

"I'm getting one of those bells," Sasuke said, sounding so sure that he might as well have been holding one already. _The true first step to you... Itachi!_

Kakashi's eye opened fully. "Oh, and before I forget, the two who pass also get to eat lunch."

"I'm getting one of those bells!" Arashi said, sounding so sure that he might as well have been holding one already.

Their sensei led them away from the stone structure he'd been staring at when they found him. They eventually ended up in a more open area of the training field, with the lake far off behind Kakashi and the walls of the forest enclosing them on all other sides.

"Ready?" Kakashi asked, receiving assured nods. His hand came down to his back pocket, about to pull out the small book inside. They were just genin, so he should be able to get through a few pages. "Three. Two. On—"

**"Flicker Burst!"**

Just like that, Arashi slid to a stop a ways behind the jonin, leaving a shallow trail of uprooted grass and dirt in his wake. The boy stood up straight and turned to face the shocked faces of his team, presenting them with his prize.

With one hand, Arashi held up the bell he'd snatched off Kakashi. "I think I win," he panted out, signs of sweat forming on his forehead. His brief moment of tiredness didn't do much to diminish the toothy grin he had plastered on his face.

With a shrug, the jonin pulled out his book and opened it, holding it out for his eye with one hand. "That was surprising to say the least," he said, sounding more bored than astounded. _A high-speed technique? No, there's more to it than that. How interesting..._

Arashi, still high on his near-instantaneous victory, gave Sasuke a cocky smirk. "What'd you think of that, you—"

His following insult was interrupted by Hinata's chakra-enhanced palm, which was currently heading right for his chest for an easy knockout. Fortunately for Arashi, his reflexes were fast enough that he was able to see and process his imminent defibrillation. He bent back just in time to watch as the attack whooshed inches from his nose.

Before he lost his balance, Arashi placed his hands on the ground and flipped back onto his feet. His arms went up, his entire body shifting into defense as he glared at the Hyuuga, more out of surprise than anger. "What're you doing!? If you want the other bell, Kakashi-sensei's over there!"

Hinata spread out her feet, her middle and index fingers pointing up as she went into her well-practiced Gentle Fist stance. "The rules state that we only need to have a bell with us when time runs out in order to pass. Time hasn't run out yet, and Kakashi-sensei never said we had to get a bell from him." Her cold eyes stared into his, watching as the meaning of her words dawned on him. "Between a jonin and a genin, I'd rather take my chances against the latter. Nothing personal."

"Nothing's ever personal with you," Arashi spat, his eyes glancing over at Sasuke, who looked like he was thinking along the same lines as Hinata. The Uchiha was already heading over, his hands going for the shuriken pouch on his hip.

The jinchuuriki's hand tightened on the bell almost painfully. If he were honest with himself, Arashi knew that he couldn't fight both Hinata and Sasuke at the same time, especially if he had to hold onto something while doing so. That only left one option.

"Run away!"

Arashi dashed into the woods, his two fellow genin right on his heels, leaving Kakashi alone in the open field. Idly, Kakashi flipped to the next page in his book, humming in thought. _Would Minato-sensei let me fail all of them if they're doing the exact opposite of what the test is all about? Hmmm..._

* * *

As he sped past the trees, clutching the bell in his hand like a lifeline, Arashi considered his options. He knew he was good, maybe extremely so, not out of any ignorant arrogance, but because of pure hard fact. Iruka himself told him that he graduated near the top of his class, something he'd worked his ass off to accomplish. And besides what his actions the other night entailed, it gave him confidence in his abilities. Not every genin could've survived what he had.

When it came down to it, Arashi figured that he and his two teammates were about even. In a one-on-one, he would've stood a chance. But Sasuke and Hinata were going after him at the same time, and he wasn't dumb enough to think he'd last long if he tried fighting them both.

_Growl..._

... He was also running on an empty stomach. Couldn't forget that.

The only real choice was to escape. As long as he could keep the bell with him until time ran out, he'd be fine. _Wait... Kakashi-sensei never told us how much time we had! Fucking useless cyclops!_

His thoughts were cut off by the rain of shuriken that came from his left. Instinctively, Arashi turned right, barely missing the metallic stars as they stabbed into the ground and surrounding tree trunks. Sasuke then jumped down several meters in front of him, his hands already weaving hand seals together.

Arashi clenched his teeth. _He herded me,_ the jinchuuriki knew, his mind going a mile a minute. It only took a fleeting glance to recognize the order of seals Sasuke was making. _A Great Fireball. Fantastic._ No matter how he tried to dodge, the Uchiha would be sure to hit him with the blast of fire. Picking off moving targets wasn't a problem to someone who could redirect his own projectiles by deflecting them with more projectiles.

So dodging was out of the question. Fortunately for him, Arashi had watched his former friend practice the very technique he faced several times in the past. He might not have been able to use it himself, but he knew enough about it to know what happened when it was interrupted mid-cast.

It was with that knowledge that Arashi charged Sasuke head on. The Uchiha's eyes widened even as he formed the next seal, having expected any sane ninja to try and avoid being horribly burned. He was even more surprised when Arashi reached out and grabbed his hands before he could complete his technique.

The chakra that had been turning into a furious inferno inside his throat abruptly stopped midway through. Sasuke coughed up plumes of black smoke, his lungs expelling all the premature fire natured chakra he'd stored up in them.

That done, Arashi kicked Sasuke away, making the Uchiha tumble down on the ground in a heap. He regained all his breath in a gasp of air, thanking his luck for helping him pull that maneuver off so smoothly. It wouldn't put Sasuke down for good, he knew, but it would buy him enough time to escape.

A smile on his face, Arashi turned around just in time to see Hinata reaching out with her fingers. He reacted by bringing up his arms in defense, which would've been effective against nearly anyone else.

His left arm— the one with the hand that held the bell— was soon disabled. Hinata then merely jabbed at somewhere around his elbow, making his arm pop upwards. Arashi's hand, which he'd lost all control of at this point, opened up, and the bell in it flew up into the air.

Arashi glared up at it, his knees already bending down in preparation for a jump. Unfortunately, as he crouched, a sandal planted itself on his face, kicking him down on his ass. Hinata had taken the opportunity to use him as a springboard, her small hand reaching up to the glimmering chime.

Right before the Hyuuga's fingers closed around the bell, a shuriken rammed into it. The bell shot downwards, ringing like wild. Before it crashed into the ground, Sasuke caught it, having already been positioned where the bell would land as if he'd been planing on it all along. Which he probably had. Wasting no time, the Uchiha dashed away into the foliage.

_I should've expected that,_ Sasuke thought, weaving his way through the forest, not bothering to even glance back at his would-be pursuers. _Pulling out my trump card right from the start... And one that I knew Arashi was familiar with, too. I'll need to be more careful._ After all those years in the academy, it was easy to get into the habit of winning without much effort. Most of his classmates didn't stand a chance against him, but Arashi and Hinata were different. It had only taken a charred throat to recognize that.

It was then that Hinata appeared, one of her hands set to poke him with chakra enhanced fingers. He slid to a stop, dodging the crippling blow, and was forced to keep at it as the Hyuuga kept up the offensive.

Rule number one when fighting against a Gentle Fist user: avoid the hands at all costs. Don't try to block. Don't even try to parry. One touch and it was all over. That thought kept Sasuke dodging at all costs, even if he noticed that he was getting backed into a tree.

However... _It should be faster than this. _He was evading all of Hinata's jabs and palm strikes far too easily. Her left arm was stiff and lethargic, not at all capable of the speed and precision necessary for her style. _Maybe Arashi did something to her before getting taken down..._ But Arashi wouldn't be taken out in such little time, even with a disabled—

The moment his back hit a tree trunk, Hinata lashed out with a roundhouse kick right to his head. It was something that he would've never expected from the girl, and it would've caught him across the face in any other situation.

But not this time. Sasuke raised both arms to block the kick at the shin, then whipped out at Hinata with a punch that she hastily avoided by stumbling back just in time.

"That almost got me, Arashi." Sasuke looked on impassively as Hinata's form was obscured by a puff of smoke that dissipated to reveal his other teammate. "Nice try anyway."

"I guess I can't hide anything from you, even without those cheaty eyes you always went on about," Arasi said. He smirked as he held his left arm, trying to ignore the pain of forcing himself to use it while the tenketsu inside it were closed. "By the way, need a cough drop? You sound kinda raspy."

"... Hn." Arashi got a good snicker out of that, and Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Before I knock you unconscious, tell me... What was that technique you used against Kakashi-sensei?"

"That? It's just a little something I came up with the other day." The other day being under twenty four hours before, but that was besides the point. "Why, jealous? I can teach you if you give me the bell."

Sasuke held out his hand, dangling the bell with its string between his index and middle fingers. "Tempting, but I don't need someone else's tricks," he said, swinging the bell lightly, internally amused to see Arashi's eyes follow its every move. "I think I'll keep this to—"

Without warning, Hinata, the real one, dropped down to a crouch in between the two boys, her eyes hidden by dark locks of hair and her arms held tightly against her chest. Like lightning, her arms stretched out at each of her teammates. The speed of her movements and the shock of her appearance made it so Sasuke and Arashi couldn't do anything but gape as the Hyuuga went to finish them both at the same time.

Just before her palms made contact, a strong gust of wind blew from out of nowhere. The three genin were thrown like rag dolls across the forest, ending up in a heap of limbs and dirt. Before they could even begin to think about what had just happened, Kakashi casually walked out from behind a tree and plucked the dropped bell from the ground.

"I think it's about time for me to intervene," he said, his half-lidded eye watching as his students picked themselves up to face him. "Having the three kids taking this test try to kill each other over the bell was a first, I'll give you that. But since this test is also in part to gauge your skill for myself..." Kakashi's hand lit up with blue electricity, turning the bell into dust. "Oops. Looks like there's only one left." The jonin patted the bell still dangling from his hip. "Back to square—"

**"Flicker Burst!"**

Arashi barely grazed the bell before a hand clamped his wrist. His momentum caused Kakashi's arm to snap back, but the iron grip on his wrist didn't drop in the least. "W-What..." His voice came out shaky, eyes staring disbelievingly at the man who had caught him and didn't even look fazed.

"It caught me off guard the first time because I'd never seen it before, and I wasn't expecting a kid like you to know something like that." The grip tightened, and Arashi grimaced in pain, not being able to shake off the hold. "Won't work twice, though, at least not the way you're using it."

Arashi was thrown like a pebble at Sasuke and Hinata, who stepped out of the way. The jinchuuriki stood back up, holding his head with a groan. "Gimmie a break here..."

Hinata noted that Arashi was using his left arm to nurse his injury. Her byakugan showed her that his tenketsu were no longer closed. _He forced them open with that technique,_ she determined, setting her sights on Kakashi. _I'll have to investigate that later._

"Time's ticking," Kakashi said, the reminder causing the three genin to glare at him and get ready. "And now I'll only take one student, so..."

All three of them charged. Kakashi sighed, having guessed from watching them the past few minutes that they'd be this competitive. _The lack of food must be getting to them, because they'll get in each other's way long before they reach me,_ he thought to himself. _Honestly, they're good, but I'll never understand why sensei was so insistent on putting them together._

Almost as if to answer him, Hinata split from her teammates, giving Arashi and Sasuke enough space to run at him comfortably. The two boys then attacked simultaneously, with Arashi dropping into a slide and Sasuke jumping up to knee him in the nose. Kakashi didn't let his surprise show, expertly sidestepping out of the way of their two pronged assault...

... Only to be met with pulsating white eyes and a rain of finger jabs and palm strikes.

Out of all his (hopefully temporary) students, Kakashi considered Hinata to be the greatest threat, at least to him. Sasuke, while a genius in every way, was too inexperienced to be all that problematic at the moment. Arashi was possibly the most dangerous person in the entire village, but that title was extremely circumstantial. Hinata, though, could use the Gentle Fist to incapacitate anyone if she was clever and lucky enough, even a Kage.

Which was why Kakashi put one hundred percent of his attention on the heiress the moment she came into his view. Left, right, back step, duck, watch the elbow, parry down, raise the knee, don't get hit, _don't get hit._

**"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"**

Her byakugan flashing, Hinata immediately hopped up to a jumping kick. Kakashi reflexively crossed his arms over his chest to block, and the girl bounced off his forearms to backflip over the sudden ball of fire that engulfed his sight.

Sasuke blew out some leftover smoke from his technique, watching along with Arashi as their sensei exploded in flames. "That was a close call," he said as Hinata landed next to him.

"I was never in danger," she told him tonelessly, uncaring that she had almost been turned to cinders. "My eyes showed me what you were doing the entire time."

"That's what I was betting on."

"Never mind that," Arashi said, waving away the smoke from his face. He narrowed his eyes at the dissipating flames. "Think that got him? Wait..." The jinchuuriki turned on Sasuke. "He had the freaking bell on him! You just blew it up!"

"... Hn."

"That doesn't excuse anything!"

"Kakashi-sensei wasn't hit," Hinata cut in, pointing at the fire. The three genin could finally make out the charred log that lay in place of the jonin.

Kakashi stood perched up on a tree branch high above his students, looking at them for what felt like the first time. _They don't even realize what they just did, do they?_ It was like their sudden team up was planned from the beginning. _No. If that's how it is, they wouldn't have let me destroy one of the bells._

It only took a few seconds for them to spot him, no doubt thanks to the byakugan. They all began to hop from branch to branch up to where he was, with Hinata leading, and reached him in moments.

This time, Kakashi made sure to be aware of Arashi and Sasuke while he dealt with Hinata's barrage of attacks. She seemed more incessant than before. _Last time she was only trying to keep me busy, and now she's trying to herd me somewhere,_ he deduced. Twisting around a thrust aimed for his abdomen, the jonin sighed. _Eh, let's see where this goes._

So he let the Hyuuga chase him off the branch they'd been fighting on, noting how Arashi and Sasuke jumped after him the moment he was in the air. _What are you planning now? _Kakashi mused, his feet touching the ground.

_Sizzle..._

Looking down, Kakashi was more than a little surprised to see it covered in explosive tags, all of which were primed to blow him to pieces.

"Huh. Well would you look at—"

**BOOM!**

Arashi and Sasuke, standing a safe distance away, groaned and grunted respectively when their sensei jumped straight up out of the smoke cloud that had enshrouded him. However, both recognized that a mid-air Kakashi was vulnerable, and so they jumped after him not a second later.

_Think I can't defend myself in the air like this?_ Kakashi thought, watching the two boys make a beeline for him. He held out his hands as they neared. When they reached him, fists plowing forward, the jonin merely caught their punches in his hands. He then twisted around in the air and threw them in the same direction.

_There's still a chance!_ Arashi thought, his eyes set on the bell tied to Kakashi's belt. Quickly, he felt his chakra, trying to figure out how much he had left. _I think I can do it at least one more time, maybe two. Freaking anti-breakfast rule messing up my game!_

"Sasuke!" he called out, setting his hands on a tiger seal. "Sorry!"

Sasuke snapped his head in Arashi's direction, still trying to regain control of himself in the air. "For what!?"

Arashi placed a foot on Sasuke's stomach. "This! **Flicker Burst!**"

Just like that, Sasuke exploded back, his trajectory and velocity completely altered. Kakashi, who had watched the entire interaction, got ready to defend his bell as he began to fall back down. _Really, Arashi, you should know that won't—_

All the air he had got knocked out of him. His eye wide, Kakashi looked down to see the redhead's knee planted firmly in his gut. A split second later, the jonin was sent hurdling in the air only to crash into the ground in a blast of dust.

His head swimming, Kakashi looked up at the sky, barely flinching at the intense pain he'd just been dealt. _I feel like I've been getting interrupted way too much in the past few minutes._ Stupid kids and their stupid overpowered attacks. He wasn't getting payed enough to deal with all this. _I need a raise... Wait, I don't have a salary. All my money comes from missions... Fuck._

Kakashi grimaced as he lifted himself from the shallow crater his rocketing body had formed. In front of him were Hinata, who calmly readied herself for another bout, Arashi who looked like he was about to kneel over from fatigue, and Sasuke, who was actually kneeling over and shooting Arashi some less than friendly glares.

The jonin sighed, closing his eye. _What the hell am I getting myself into?_ He raised his hand in a placating gesture, getting the three kids before him to cool down before they charged at him again. "You pass. All of you."

Hinata slowly let her hands fall to her sides while Arashi immediately slumped to a seating position and moaned in relief. Sasuke sat too, sending Kakashi an inquisitive look. "Just like that? None of us ended up with the bell."

"Shut up, Sasuke," Arashi muttered, laying back on his hands. "Ever heard of looking a gift horse in the mouth?"

"The test was never about acquiring the bells, was it Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked, sitting seiza-style beside her teammates.

Kakashi chose to remain standing, and definitely not because he didn't want to mess with the bruise Arashi had most likely given him. "I guess someone with eyes like yours wouldn't have too many issues with looking underneath the underneath. Yeah, the test wasn't about the bells at all."

"Underneath the underneath?"

"There's gotta be a better way to word that."

The jonin fixed a glare on the two whispering boys, making them freeze in place. "Anyway, I want to see if any of you can figure out the true purpose of this test..."

Arashi's hand shot up in the air. "Oooh! Pick me! Me! I know!"

"... Arashi." Kakashi was pretty much done at this point.

"It's about teamwork, right?"

That actually threw Kakashi for a loop. He hadn't expected them to figure it out so quickly, but it seemed that this particular team already had a habit of going against all his expectations. "Uh... You're right. How'd you know?"

"Well you passed us after we started working together so..."

Kakashi just stared at him, making the boy fidget when it went on for a bit too long. Just when it was getting uncomfortable, the jonin closed his eye and chuckled. The chuckle quickly evolved into a full blown laugh, leaving the three genin to look on in befuddlement.

He should've realized it sooner. As always, Minato knew what he was doing, even if everyone else thought the man was crazy. _Hinata, Sasuke, and Arashi. _No other combination of academy graduates could've pulled off what they did.

Hinata was already the perfect ninja. Never feeling, always focused on the task at hand, and capable of doing whatever it took as long as it meant victory. Sasuke cared about one thing and one thing only, and nothing that helped him achieve that ambition escaped his notice. Of course they would team up if it meant they could get their hands on the bell. Not because of some misplaced selflessness or out of the goodness of their heart, but because it was objectively the surest path forward. They knew they couldn't stand up to him alone, so they didn't.

As for Arashi... Well, maybe it really did come from the goodness of _his_ heart. Or his ceaseless craving for companionship. One or the other.

"He's been laughing for two minutes straight."

"Kakashi-sensei's going nuts."

That snapped Kakashi out of his revelation. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at each of his new students.

The emotionless heiress...

The revenge-obsessed prodigy...

The lonely ticking time bomb...

He'd be lying if he said he was glad to get this team. His sensei practically forcing them on him had a lot to do with that, not to mention how troublesome it would be to deal with all their problems. Honestly, they didn't remind him of his old team at all. Even the old Team Minato could be managed to some extent.

But he wanted to know how things went for them. A team that so perfectly encapsulated the importance of teamwork for all the wrong reasons... Kakashi wanted to know. And maybe, given time, they might start growing on him a little.

"From this day on, we are Team Seven. We'll train together, go on missions together, and face our enemies together. Better start getting along." Kakashi nodded to himself, both hands behind his back. "Now..." He pulled out three boxed lunches. "Who wants to eat?"

Arashi had never been happier.

* * *

**AN:**

**Finally, all the introductory stuff is done. From here on out it's all about original arcs and all that cool stuff. That means no Land of Waves, no anime filler stuff, and no Chunin Exams.**

**Okay that last one's a bit of a stretch but what I mean is that the Chunin Exams won't be like we're all used to.**

**How'd you guys like this Team Seven? I tried to make them come across as three people who don't necessarily like each other, but can still respect each other, at least when it comes to fighting ability. That's the big difference with this one, respect. It's not like canon, where Sasuke's basically the only one who actually knows what he's doing while Naruto and Sakura flail around trying not to get killed. No one here's a complete chump, and all three of them know that.**

**That's all I needed to say here. Don't forget to review, especially on Hinata and Sasuke because I want to know what people think of those two in particular. Arashi too, I guess, but whatever, not like he's the protagonist or anything.**

**Next time, Kakashi actually trains his students for once, Sasuke forgets to brood, and the team gets fed up with D-ranks after a week.**


	6. The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies

Don't own it, it's not mine. You really think I want Naruto after that whole thing with the alien goddess bad guy? Nope. Kishi, it's all yours, man.

* * *

**Chapter Six: The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies**

* * *

"That was way too easy."

Arashi walked down the street, his hands in his pockets, yawning into the air. Beside him, Hinata held a raging cat, one with a red ribbon on its right ear, by its collar as far away from her as possible. The cat futilely tried scratching its captor, but Hinata easily avoided the slices.

"Of course it was," Hinata said, her empty eyes staring ahead, not minding the flurry of sharp claws trying to scratch up her face. "It's a D-rank mission."

"Yeah, but it was supposed to be _the_ D-rank mission." Arashi shot an annoyed glance at the cat, and the minute amount of unconsciously generated killing intent he put out was enough to silence the flailing animal. "Iruka-sensei's such a liar. 'Most dangerous creature in the world' my ass. It barely took us half an hour!"

Hinata finally took a second to look him in the eye. After around a week of being in the same team, Arashi could make a guess that his comment left her incredulous, or at least as close as she could get to it. "It's a cat. You have unreasonably high expectations."

Arashi threw her a sour look, but let it go. Something else he'd learned about the Hyuuga was that she was apparently incapable of saying something mean-spirited on purpose. Not because she was a nice person of course, but because she just didn't care enough about any given thing to be mean about it.

"How nuts do you have to be to complain about an easy mission?" Kakashi, on the other hand, seemed to live for mean-spiritedness.

Looking back at the silver-haired man walking with an opened book in his hand, Arashi began rubbing his own stomach. "I'm just watching out for you, sensei. Still sore from the other day?"

Kakashi was careful to not let his irritation bleed into his outward expression, even if it would've barely been visible behind his mask. "You're really asking for it, Arashi," he drawled. "Maybe I'll sic my hounds on you. Call it an impromptu survival exercise." Seriously, the genin got one hit off on him and he still hasn't let the man live it down.

"At least then I don't feel like falling asleep halfway through,"Arashi muttered, turning his head back around.

Sasuke grunted from next to Kakashi, catching the jonin's attention. "I hate to agree with Arashi of all people, but he's got a point. All we've done the last few days is busywork."

"Hey now, that's not true. These missions are very important." Truthfully, Kakashi wasn't exactly a fan of D-ranks. Most ninja weren't, to be perfectly honest, but he was supposed to be a good influence for his students, so he felt the need to defend the system. "How's the village supposed to run properly if we didn't help out like this?"

Arashi yawned again. _I really need to get more sleep,_ he thought briefly, then shrugged it off. Nightmares had a habit of screwing with his sleep schedule. "Yeah, we're screwed if we don't paint those fences. And littered roads? The horror."

Oh well, Kakashi tried. "At least you get paid for it," he said, turning the page on his book. After reading a few lines, he involuntarily giggled. Immediately, all three genin set their eyes on their sensei, making him gulp.

Sasuke, who was closest to him, managed to get a good look at the cover of the book he was reading. "You keep reading that, Kakashi-sensei. What's Icha-Icha anyway?"

The jonin closed his book shut, then stuffed it in his flak vest as he patted Sasuke's head. "What have I told you about my reading material, Sasuke?"

His scowl deepening at his sensei's overly-familiar action, the Uchiha grunted. "Nothing."

"That's right. Let's keep it that way."

They entered the Hokage Tower, following the straight hallway to the Mission Assignment Room. Other ninja roamed around them, chatting with their comrades, turning in and requesting missions of their own. Some glanced at Team Seven with grimaces, specifically at Hinata and the cat in her grip, as if remembering their own run at that particular D-rank.

When they reached the Mission Assignment Desk, Kakashi cleared his throat and stepped up in front of his students. He handed the chunin behind the desk the mission report he'd written up while the genin behind him were running around the village looking for the cat. "What do you guys think?" he asked his students. "We could get another one done today if you want."

Arashi snorted, barely glancing at the large woman who came up to Hinata and thanked her profusely for 'saving' her cat. _Wasn't she supposed to be someone important or something? Eh, whatever._ "If by 'another one' you mean 'deliver mail,' the answer's no."

Kakashi shrugged, taking the bills that were handed to him. He led his team out of the building while he counted the money and split it amongst him and his students. "I guess that means we're done for today. You guys can go home now, unless you want to do some extra training before the sun sets."

That seemed to cheer Arashi up. The jinchuuriki smiled up at Kakashi, looking ready to run all the way to the training grounds right then and there. "Same thing today, sensei?"

The jonin sighed. "If you want. I still think you're putting all your eggs in one basket, but hey, it's not like _I_ know anything."

"Cool! C'mon, Hinata, I'll race you there!" With that, Arashj jumped off onto the rooftops, blurring his way through the village.

Hinata didn't even blink, instead turning her head to look up at Kakashi. He sighed again, nodding once to answer her unasked question. Not a moment later, the Hyuuga was following her red-haired teammate to the training ground, leaving behind Sasuke and her sensei.

The two stared at the retreating forms of Arashi and Hinata, one in exasperation and the other in mild amusement. Kakashi looked down at Sasuke, who suddenly realized he'd been left to train alone with the silver-haired man for the fifth time that week. Training in this case being a very subjective term.

Sasuke coughed, trying to take attention off the beads of sweat that were already forming on his forehead. "Huuuh... I was thinking that I should practice my hand seals today. They can always be faster."

"You know, I wasn't kidding about that hound survival exercise I mentioned earlier," Kakashi said, completely ignoring Sasuke's own statement. "The other two are preoccupied with their own training though, so I'd need someone who isn't working on anything specific. Know anyone like that?"

The badly hidden glee in Kakashi's voice terrified the Uchiha. That fear kept him paralyzed in place even when his sensei bit his thumb and prepared his Summoning Technique. Just as the telltale poof of a summoning sounded out behind him, Sasuke gulped, thinking that, maybe, another D-rank wouldn't have been so bad after all.

* * *

Arashi tilted his head to the side, avoiding a rising palm. He took two steps back, weaving side to side as a rain of lightning quick attacks assaulted him. Just as he was about to take his third step backwards, he grit his teeth and stood his ground. _I'm not supposed to be running away._

He brought his hands up, determined to at least deflect some of the blows. _If I just catch her at the wrists—_

In seconds, Hinata completely locked up his entire upper body and finished off her offense with a palm strike to the chest. Luckily for Arashi, it wasn't powered by chakra, so instead of exploding his insides it just sent him tumbling onto his back.

The jinchuuriki groaned in pain and defeat, staring up at the sky for what felt like the hundredth time. He made to sit up, but flinched when his sore arms barely lifted off the ground. Sighing, Arashi closed his eyes, deciding that it was about time he took a break.

The light coming through his eyelids darkened, making him open one up to see Hinata standing over him, her hair flowing freely in the gentle breeze. Closing his eye again, Arashi breathed in the smell of the grass, trying to calm himself down after such an intense sparring session. "You ever thought about putting that up in a ponytail? It's gotta get annoying after a while."

Sitting down next to him, Hinata watched the lake just a few meters away. She tucked the hair over her face behind her ear, letting her inactive eyes roam without it obscuring her view. "My byakugan makes it so it doesn't restrict my vision in battle. There's no need for such things."

"I guess that makes sense," Arashi murmured, mostly to himself. He tried moving his arms again and... Nope, they still hurt too much. "Your hair's really long though," he said. It was, what? Thigh length? A little below that? "Someone could grab it or something, and then..."

"... And then they'd be completely vulnerable to my Gentle Fist."

"... Right." If there was anyone who couldn't be safely grappled, it was a Hyuuga. "Still, I bet it's a bitch to comb. Is it a fashion statement?"

She didn't laugh. He wasn't expecting her to. "It's Hyuuga family tradition," she said. "A sign of honor and prestige among the clan."

"So, what, the longer your hair is, the more people respect you?" He glanced up at her just in time to see her nod. "That's just weird." Even as he said that, he couldn't help but wonder what that made her. Surely she was high up on the totem pole, because he didn't remember seeing any other Hyuuga with hair as long as hers.

Speaking of which, his own hair was starting to get a bit lengthy. Even now he could feel some of it getting past his headband to cover his eyebrows. "Hey, if I was a Hyuuga, how much respect would _I_ get?"

Hinata looked down at him, and Arashi tried to replicate her own blank expression. She examined his features, her eyes taking in every inch of his face. After a few moments of this, he cracked, blinking and breaking eye contact.

The Hyuuga turned her head back towards the lake. "Superficially... You'd be the equivalent of dirt."

"Wh— H-Hey! That's a little much don't you think?"

"You're right." She stared ahead, not saying anything for an uncomfortable amount of time. "...…. That was too generous. You'd be less than dirt."

"... Did you just make a joke?" Arashi looked at her, trying to spot even the tiniest quirk of the lips. There was nothing but cold, hard indifference. "Never mind. I almost forgot that you don't have a sense of humor."

The girl stood up from her seiza, veins pulsing around her eyes from the activation of her byakugan. "Can you continue, or will that be all for today?"

Breathing deeply from his nose, Arashi slowly raised his hands and formed a tiger seal. **"Flicker** **Burst,"** he muttered, the discomfort in his arms fading instantly as the tenketsu within them were forced open. He rolled onto his feet, cracking his neck with a satisfying pop as he stood up straight. "Nah, I'm good for one more at least. And go a little easier on me this time, okay? I don't wanna have to feel this in the morning again."

"Fine. You have a minute before I start attacking seriously." That said, Hinata dashed at him and they were back at it again.

* * *

"You look like shit."

"Right back at you."

Walking down the sparse nighttime roads of the Leaf, Sasuke and Arashi looked like they had seen better days. The Uchiha was singed all over, his hair still smoking somewhat, with ripped up clothing and bite marks all over his body. Arashi, while not as outwardly injured, had a very noticeable limp, and held the right side of his abdomen to better handle the throbbing pain originating from it.

"At least I went up against something scary," Arashi said. "What monsters did _you_ fight today? Killer puppies?"

Instead of being insulted, Sasuke gave his teammate the most serious look he'd ever given anyone. "Yes." He stared up for a bit as if he got an idea. "Maybe I should tell Kakashi-sensei that you don't think Pakkun-san and the rest are scary."

The jinchuuriki's already pale complexion turned even whiter. Nearly tripping on his stiff leg, Arashi raised his free hand in surrender. "Joking! Just joking, man! Heh..."

"Hn." It wasn't everyday he beat Arashi at meaningless wisecracking, so he'd enjoy the moment for as long as it lasted. Being a ninja, however, Sasuke decided to get down to business. "So, is your training actually working, or are you just wasting your time like Kakashi-sensei keeps saying?"

"Stupid, of course my training's working." Arashi didn't want to say more than that, but the Uchiha's deadpan gaze was too heavy to ignore. "… Y'know, slowly."

"How slowly?"

"... I'm like halfway to being halfway to being halfway to being halfway..."

"So you're one sixteenth of the way there."

"... To being halfway to being halfway to being halfway done. Maybe."

"One hundred twenty eighth of the way there. And you're not even sure."

"I see you're a glass half empty kind of guy these days."

As much as he didn't want to, Arashi had to admit that Sasuke had a point. From what he could see, the only real problem with his Flicker Burst was that it took too much chakra. He couldn't use it more than about four times before his reserves dried up, and that was without taking into account any other techniques he might use. So when Hinata had approached him about his move and its effects on tenketsu, he thought he'd found an answer to his problem.

He proposed that they spar regularly after their team training and daily D-ranks. After all, who better to practice the Gentle Fist with than someone who could shrug off its effects? This way Hinata got to train her form without having to hold back and Arashi got to train his Flicker Burst over and over again until he ran out of chakra.

Now, obviously Arashi had been hoping that a regimen like this would make his technique more effective. It was common knowledge that the more a ninja used a technique, the less chakra it cost and the more powerful it became. This was certainly true of the Flicker Burst.

It's just that it was taking too long.

"What about you? Have you learned anything besides the Run Away for My Life Technique?" Arashi asked, only partially to try and put the ball back in Sasuke's court. As far as he'd seen, the Uchiha hadn't been doing much of anything in his own individual training besides play around with string and survive Kakashi's ridiculous death challenges.

Grimacing at a cut that brushed up against his shirt, Sasuke cursed himself for not bringing any sort of first aid. After the week he'd been having, it was kind of amazing that it wasn't a top priority yet. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because I already told you about me. And it would make you less of a dick."

"You were the one dumb enough to actually tell me." Sasuke didn't flinch at the sour look that Arashi threw his way. "What? We're ninja. Our skills are supposed to be a secret."

"Even from your teammates? What a load of bullshit." Arashi just sighed, deciding to let it go. He'd find out what Sasuke was up to eventually. Being in close proximity with someone every day tended to make things like that easier to do.

Seeing that his teammate wasn't going to pursue the topic any further, the Uchiha shook his head. "You were always too soft for this kind of thing," Sasuke said. It was something he'd noticed early on about his then-classmate. It never mattered much before, but now that they were actual genin, things were slightly more complicated.

Arashi scoffed, not bothering to deny it. "Maybe, but I can still kick your ass up and down this street if I really wanted to."

"You can try."

"Want me to prove it?"

They stopped walking, looking at each other with matching frowns. For a few moments, they just stared at each other right in the eye, silent and unwavering. Finally, at the same time, they both looked away in distaste. The road they were on split in two, and they started walking down different paths home.

"See ya tomorrow, duckbutt."

"Hn. Unfortunately."

After a bit of limping by himself, Arashi couldn't help but crack a small smirk. "That guy..." he muttered to himself, letting out a chuckle.

At the same time, Sasuke closed his eyes, bringing up his hand to cover a deep yawn. "Same idiot as always," he murmured.

* * *

Dinner with Hinata's family was a dull affair, with the sound of chopsticks clanking lightly against their plates being the only thing to break the silence. It had been this way for years, and it wasn't hard to see why. Hiashi was a man of few words, and Hinata herself wasn't much of a conversationalist. Hanabi, the youngest of Hiashi's daughters, had long ago learned that it wasn't worth trying to say anything to them, so she resolved to finish her meal as fast as possible.

Today was different, however, as a few minutes into dinner, Hanabi couldn't help but notice the small blemish on her sister's usually pristine features.

"Um... Onee-san... Are you hurt?" Hanabi pointed to her own face, right under the curve of her cheek. "I couldn't help but notice..."

Hinata lightly dropped her chopsticks on their rest, bringing up her other hand to trace her fingers over the area her sister had pointed out. "Ah," she said, though she didn't look surprised. "Most likely a glancing blow from a spar with my teammate. I didn't notice it until now." She picked up her chopsticks again, resuming her meal. "Thank you for letting me know, Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi almost choked on her food when she heard that, though she managed to avoid it, thankfully. "Someone hit you?" she whispered to herself. She knew how hard that was to do more than anyone. Her own short hair was a good reminder.

"Now that you've gotten acclimated," Hiashi spoke out, his dull voice filling up the room, "do you still believe this to be the best course of action, Hinata? You can always resign from the ninja force and resume your training as heiress."

After dabbing her mouth with a folded napkin, Hinata made sure to clear her throat softly before responding to her father. "I can't say this is detrimental to my progress. My teammates are skilled, and my sensei is a capable teacher."

The youngest Hyuuga squirmed a bit in her seat, her eyes set on her plate. Gulping down her uncertainty, she raised her head and opened her mouth.

"Kakashi Hatake, was it?" Hiashi asked Hinata, making his other daughter swallow back what she was about to say. "I've met the man before." They were passing acquaintances at best, but the elite jonin was memorable if for no other reason than his unique appearance. "I thought him far too indolent to get out of bed in the morning, much less instruct three students of his own. What has he taught you this past week?"

"We spent all our joint training sessions learning how to walk up vertical surfaces," Hinata said, getting a strange look from Hanabi. "Just yesterday he deemed us proficient enough at it to move on to more advanced chakra control exercises."

"I see..." Hiashi closed his eyes, mulling over what he'd been told. Finally, he nodded his head. "It seems this wasn't a waste for you after all. This might explain why your cousin Neji appears to have surpassed you so quickly."

Things quieted down after that, and the three went back to the silent dinner they were used to. At least until Hinata noticed the nervous glances her sister was throwing her way. She closed her mouth, placing the bite of food back in her plate. "Is there something wrong, Hanabi-chan?"

Having been caught, Hanabi tried not to meet her older sister's empty eyes. Instead, she pinned her sight on Hinata's forehead, hoping the genin wouldn't notice. "Ah... No, just... I was wondering, what are your teammates like, Onee-san?" Looking down, Hanabi played a bit with her food. "They're not as strong as you, right?"

Hiashi kept eating, seemingly disinterested and content to let his daughters talk it out by themselves. Hinata stared ahead, her even expression not revealing whatever was going on in her head. The youngest Hyuuga knew her sister well enough to tell that she was thinking about it, though.

"Sasuke Uchiha is well-versed in all aspects of ninja training." She paused, reflecting on everything she'd learned of the boy in the past week. "He learns very quickly, and easily understands the mental conditions of those around him. I told you that he was the Rookie of the Year of my graduating class—"

"Only because you got in late!" Hanabi nearly shouted. Almost panicking, the girl covered her mouth with her hands. "Sorry," she whispered out. Catching her father's stern gaze, Hanabi decided to keep her hands where they were in case she made another outburst. "What about the other one?"

Hinata didn't say anything for a while. After almost a full minute, the Hyuuga blinked. "Arashi-san. He's a dum—" She stopped herself, taking in the fact that her father was in the room. "... He's reckless. And presumptuous. And far too bold for his own good." Her tone stayed flat all throughout, but something still caught her sister's attention.

"It doesn't sound like you get along," Hanabi observed. In reality, she didn't think her sister could get along well with anyone on account of her apathy, but that was just it. Her sister wasn't supposed to care one way or the other. About anyone.

Hiashi harrumphed. "It's a genin team, not a social club," he told his youngest, acknowledging her presence for the first time that evening. Almost as soon as that happened, he turned his attention back to Hinata. "As long as this helps you, Hinata, I approve. However, the moment I see that you are being held back—"

"You won't need to step in, father," Hinata cut in, catching his cold eyes with hers.

He looked away.

"If something like that does happen," the heiress continued, "I'll remove myself without hesitation."

The hush that came over them after that remained unbroken. Hanabi cringed when she looked down at her plate and saw how much she had left to eat. It seemed she'd be stuck there for a while yet.

* * *

Iruka held back a groan as he graded the quizzes he'd given out the day before. _Why does half my class think that being a ninja's all about assassinating people?_ Most of the kids he taught had probably gotten their mail delivered to them by a ninja on a D-rank at some point. Clearly there was more to the job than just killing people left and right. _Maybe I should explain all this stuff to them more thoroughly. Is this why everyone's so surprised when their first mission is to walk someone's dog? _

He looked up from the paper in his hand at the sound of the door opening. "Arashi?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as the former academy student closed the door behind him. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm ungrateful for the visit, but shouldn't you be meeting up with your team?"

Arashi went up to the front of the class and sat on the desk right in front of his old teacher. He scrunched forward, leaning his head on his hands. "My new sensei spends a few hours every morning staring at a rock, so I've got time to spare. Figured I'd come back and see if you missed me yet."

"I can't say I do. You guys were a troublesome bunch," Iruka said with a chuckle, getting back to grading. "Class starts in half an hour, so we don't have much time. Unless you want to play assistant for today?"

Snorting, Arashi scanned the chalkboard behind the chunin's desk. "Don't you know? I _charge_ for chores now." The information written on the board was something he must've learned a while back. He could almost recite it by memory now.

"Your new sensei is Kakashi Hatake, right?" Iruka shook his head as he drew a red X over a wrong answer. "What's he doing staring at a rock?"

"I think he does it just to mess with us," Arashi said, shrugging his shoulders. He, Sasuke, and Hinata had tried to pry the man off his spot in front of the stone when they found him there again the day after their 'true' genin exam. Kakashi told them to leave him alone, so they gave up and let him have his space ever since. "I mean, it's a pretty fancy rock, but it's still a rock."

"Fancy how?"

"It's got something written on it. I never got a close look, though."

Iruka stopped writing a note on the margins of the quiz mid-sentence. "Would this rock happen to be in Training Ground Three?"

"How'd you now?"

Sighing, Iruka got back to grading. He really needed to get this done before classes started. "That's the Memorial Stone, Arashi. The things written on it are the names of ninja who got killed in action. Your sensei probably stops by to pay his respects."

"….. Oooh."

"Yeah."

Now Arashi just felt like a jerk. It was easy to categorize Kakashi as someone who couldn't care less about anything. The man was distant and apathetic, only taking enjoyment in the books he read. It was only now that the jinchuuriki realized there might be a reason for that.

Iruka sniggered at Arashi's disheartened expression. "You don't have to look so down about it," he said, placing the quiz in a stack of papers he'd already graded. His hand reached for another one, but was met with nothing. It took but a glance to see that there was nothing left for him to grade. "Though you might want to remember this for the next time you think you know all about someone. Keeping an open mind is an important part of being a ninja."

"How do I do that?" Arashi asked, his voice glum.

Resting his elbows on his desk, Iruka flexed his hand, trying to assuage the soreness that came with writing continuously. "There's usually more than one way to look at something, just like there's usually more than one answer to a question." The teacher stood up and grabbed a stick of chalk, jotting down more notes on the board. "A good ninja should always assume that things aren't what they seem."

That jogged something in Arashi's memory. "Looking underneath the underneath," he said, rubbing his forehead to ease out the wrinkles formed by his frown.

Iruka cocked his head sideways, raising an eyebow. "That's a weird way of putting it, but yeah."

"So, how's it going for you these days? Any of these brats giving you too much trouble yet?" Not the subtlest way to change the subject, but Arashi was never very subtle to begin with.

Either way, thinking about his new students made Iruka visibly age before Arashi's eyes. "They're all nice kids, for the most part," the chunin said.

"For the most part meaning that not all of them are as nice as the rest?"

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" Iruka asked, shaking his head when Arashi shrugged in response. "His name is Konohamaru, and he's…. Well…."

"A giant pain in the ass?"

"A bit harsh, but yeah."

Arashi figured he might as well try to look on the bright side. "At least it keeps things interesting, right sensei?" Iruka's deadpan expression showed how much he agreed with that sentiment. "….. That bad, huh?"

Iruka covered his face with his hands. "It's not, really. Konohamaru's smart, but he's very… proud… of his family history. He's a Sarutobi." He opened up his hands, showing Arashi his narrowed eyes. "You remember why that's important, right?"

"The Sandaime Hokage, I know," Arashi said, rolling his eyes. "Of course I'm gonna remember something like that, sensei."

"Just making sure. Anyway, it feels like Konohamaru came into class with a chip on his shoulder. Makes sense, being a former Kage's grandkid and everything."

"Sounds rough, though." Arashi scratched his chin. "You want me to talk to him? I know a thing or two about getting overshadowed all the time."

The chunin raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"

"The Nine-Tails makes a pretty big shadow, y'know."

Silence.

* * *

_I'm forgetting something._

Sasuke thought back, going through the morning in his head. He'd woken up, done some early morning exercise, took a shower, got dressed... _Nothing out of the ordinary,_ he mused, closing his eyes. The streets weren't all that crowded since everyone was still getting ready for the day, if they were even awake in the first place. He wouldn't need his eyes to walk around with such few people to run into, and having them closed helped him think. _It's right at the top of my tongue, too. Hate it when that happens._

His stomach growled, freezing him mid-step. He lowered his head, hoping that his long bangs would be enough to cover his barely formed blush. _Breakfast._ Sasuke could feel the few villagers that were out and about stare at him as they walked by, probably because he'd stopped so suddenly in the middle of the street. _Out of everything it could've been..._ The genin stomped on the dirt path. "Tch!"

He blamed it on Kakashi's stupid habit of showing up hours late to their daily meetings. He'd added in a morning work out to his routine for the sole purpose of using that time wisely, but it backfired terribly.

Well, he couldn't just skip the most important meal of the day. Kakashi was a bum, but he worked his students to the bone, so things were already hard enough without an empty stomach. Opening his eyes, Sasuke looked around for somewhere to get a quick meal before his team was supposed to meet.

He didn't have to look for very long. Just a few meters away from him was a homey-looking food stand called Ramen Ichiraku. Sasuke considered it for a moment, wondering if he really wanted to eat something like ramen in the first place, and so early in the day too, but his hunger convinced him it was for the best.

The Uchiha walked in and sat down on the closest stool. There wasn't anyone else there, even behind the counter. He waited for what felt like a minute, and just when he was about to leave and find somewhere else to eat, a big man with squinted eyes and a wide smile came in from the back room.

"Ah, a customer!" the man said, setting down the box he'd brought out on the floor. "Sorry for the wait, we just opened!"

"It's fine," Sasuke said automatically. It wasn't really, because he was starving at this point, but he didn't feel up to complain right then.

The man shook his head, giving Sasuke a knowing look. "You look hungry kid. Why don't you look over the menu while I get everything set up? Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes." Before he got to work, the man faced the door to the back room. "Ayame, get out here! We have a customer!" he bellowed.

"Coming!" Out came a young, brunette girl, maybe a few years older than Sasuke himself. She walked up to the counter, still tying an apron around her waist, and stood across from him. "Welcome to Ichiraku's! What'll you be having today?"

Sasuke glanced at the menu and knew what he wanted within seconds. "I'll take the... Lava Style Noodles, please." He sighed, because for some reason having such a ridiculous name for what was basically just ramen cooked in tomato flavored broth sounded like something a certain redhead would appreciate.

"One Lava Style, dad!"

"Got it!"

It was then that someone else entered the small restaurant. An old, wrinkly man dressed in a simple long robe came in and sat next to Sasuke. "Good morning, Teuchi-san," the old man said, addressing the ramen chef.

"Hiruzen-san, you old coot, good to see you!" Teuchi greeted, not taking his eyes off the ramen he was making. "The usual?"

"You know me too well, old friend."

Sasuke tried not to stare too hard. He wasn't stupid, he knew what the Sandaime Hokage looked like, not to mention the man's name. For the first time in a long time, the Uchiha was left at a loss of what to do. _I shouldn't bother him, right?_

"You look like you have something to say, young man."

Freezing in his seat, Sasuke gulped down his nerves. It wasn't that he was scared, not exactly, but still... It wasn't every day that a living legend sat next to him. The Professor, a man once hailed across all the Elemental Nations as the God of Ninja. Sasuke could tell just from the way the Sandaime sat, calm as a spring breeze and straighter than a pine tree, that nothing he'd heard about the man was an exaggeration. His mere presence spoke of power. _Power_.

"Sandaime-sama... I want to ask you something," Sasuke said, slowly so as to not accidentally stutter. "If... If that's fine with you, of course."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked down in thought for a few seconds before he brought his head up to look at the cook just beyond the counter. "You hear that, Teuchi-san? This lad here is so respectful! Why can't _you_ call me Sandaime-sama?"

"Sorry, but I can't forget the after-party Kushina-chan set up after Yondaime-sama's inauguration. Or should I say, your 'resignation party.'" Teuchi held out a bowl of ramen in red-colored broth with one hand, the other busy with his next order. "Ayame!"

The girl took the steaming bowl and placed it in front of Sasuke, who couldn't care less about his food at this point. "Enjoy your meal!" she said.

Sasuke didn't take his eyes off the Sandaime. "Hn," he grunted in response. Ayame twitched, but otherwise maintained her cheery attitude.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen stifled a laugh at the memories his friend had brought up. "You won't ever let me live that one down, will you?"

"Never had a drunk Kage in my stand before, and I probably never will again!" Teuchi laughed, the sound bouncing off the walls of the small establishment. "So no, you're stuck with it! Haha!" The ramen chef then put the finishing touches in the next dish and went to give Hiruzen the bowl himself. "Miso chicken with a touch of shiitake, just the way you like it."

Trying not to sigh in frustration, Sasuke was about to try and get Hiruzen's attention when the retired Hokage held up his hand.

"Sasuke-kun, wasn't it?" he asked, picking up his chopsticks. "Ask me whatever you want, but first, let's show some respect to old Teuchi-san."

"Hey, who're you calling old?"

Hiruzen and, after a second of hesitance, Sasuke held their chopsticks with both hands.

"Itadakimasu."

"... Itadakimasu."

"So, what do you want to know?" Hiruzen asked, gently breaking the chopsticks apart and beginning his meal.

"I..." Sasuke paused, looking down at his bowl. After a few seconds of nothing but Hiruzen's quiet slurping to fill in the silence, he looked up and met the old man's eyes. "You're one of the most powerful ninja in the world, and you have more experience than anyone I've met up to this point. Please... Tell me how you got to where you are. How can I get that strong?"

The Sarutobi held Sasuke's gaze for a couple of seconds before closing his eyes and shifting on his seat, setting the bowl back down on the table. "How to get strong? Hmm..." He cocked his head to the side, shrugging his shoulders. "You were taught about the Will of Fire in the academy, weren't you, lad?"

Holding back the urge to scoff, Sasuke instead looked away from Hiruzen, staring straight at the back wall of the ramen stand. "Every Leaf ninja protecting each other and all that, right?"

"I hear some disdain in your voice, young man," Hiruzen scolded, though he didn't sound all that mad. "But yes, our village's ninja are known for gaining strength through wanting to protect their comrades. It's a Hokage's greatest strength."

Sasuke put his chopsticks in the bowl and began to eat, not wanting to show up even later than Kakashi to team training.

"However..."

The chopsticks, ramen dripping with broth held in them, stopped on their way to Sasuke's mouth.

"After all my years as a ninja, I can say with certainty that this isn't all there is to the Will of Fire."

Sasuke put down the chopsticks, turning his entire body to face Hiruzen. "What do you mean?"

"Got your attention now, didn't I?" The Sandaime smirked. "Humph. Of course, the desire to protect can help anyone get as strong as they need to be, but in the end, it's just a desire like any other." Hiruzen slurped up a few bites of ramen and used a napkin to clean the corners of his mouth before he continued. Sasuke swore he was stalling on purpose just to screw with him. "The Will of Fire is simply the full immersion of that desire. It doesn't matter what that desire is, not really, as long as you believe in it deeply enough."

An image of bloody walls and bodies flashed through Sasuke's mind. "If you believe enough..."

"Want to know a secret?" Hiruzen whispered. He leaned in, his face conspiratorial, and so Sasuke found himself leaning in as well. "The truth is, I didn't get strong because I wanted to protect the Leaf and everyone in it. Well, not at first anyway. That became my desire when I was ready to be Hokage."

"What made you strong before that, then?"

Hiruzen's face became stoic, his eyes hard. "You see... What made me strong was..."

Sasuke could feel himself becoming more and more nervous. "Yes?"

"I wanted to be..."

Shit, this was serious. "Y-Yes?"

"... a super cool ninja."

"..."

"..."

"... What?"

Hiruzen's face was still stony. "I wanted to be the coolest ninja ever. _That_ was what made me strong."

_He... He's not kidding, is he?_ Sasuke realized. "How is that a good reason? How can that make _anyone_ strong?"

The seriousness dissipated, and Hiruzen went back to eating his ramen. "That's the point, Sasuke-kun. It doesn't matter how stupid or immature or thoughtless your reason to fight is. The only thing that matters is the faith you have in that reason. Dedicate yourself fully to an ideal and you are sure to gain strength, for better or worse. _That_ is the Will of Fire." Out of noodles, the retired Kage picked up his bowl and drank all the broth, finishing it off with a satisfied smack of his lips. "Ah... Perfect as always. Teuchi-san, I'm paying for both me and the boy."

"Sure, Hiruzen-san. Come back, you hear?"

The Sandaime stood up and laid the ryo bills on the counter. As he walked out of the ramen stand, Hiruzen turned his head towards Sasuke. "Finish your food before it gets cold, son."

Sasuke looked back, but the old man was already gone by the time he did. "Hn." The Uchiha turned back to his bowl, breathed in the smell of his ramen, and began chowing it down.

* * *

When Team Seven met at their usual spot, that being in the middle of the field in Training Ground Three, the genin sat in silence. Seeing as how they all showed up two hours late, it wouldn't be much longer before their sensei arrived.

Usually, it was at this time where Arashi and Sasuke would begin exchanging quips and get into a long string of progressively heated retorts until Kakashi showed up and broke up the fight before it could begin. Hinata, sitting in between the two boys, was quick to notice that this wasn't happening.

The two of them were just sitting there, staring ahead. They had barely gotten off a "good morning" when they got there. The Hyuuga didn't know what it was that they were so clearly thinking about, and she honestly didn't really care, but communication was important when it came to their team training, so… "I'd like to know what you are both—"

Before she could finish, Kakashi appeared in a poof of white smoke, a mission scroll held in his left hand.

The genin stood at once. "What's with the scroll, Kakashi-sensei?" Arashi asked, hands in his pockets. "We're not training today?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Nope. It's going to take a few hours to reach where we're going, so we can't waste any time here."

Sasuke, Arashi, and Hinata shared a look. The Uchiha then stepped forward. "….. Where are we going?"

"Kōunmura. It's a small mining town on the southern end of the Land of Fire." Kakashi formed a tiger seal, the scroll held in between his palms. "I'll brief you on the way. Pack for two to three days and meet me at the main gate in fifteen minutes." And just like that, he body flickered away.

The remaining members of Team Seven looked at the spot where their sensei had been not seconds before with varying degrees of befuddlement. "Did he just…. What just happened?" Arashi stammered out.

Hinata turned to him then, her empty eyes for once not eliciting any kind of reaction. "I believe we've been assigned our first C-rank mission. You must be pleased."

* * *

"So… why the sudden C-rank, sensei?" Sasuke asked as Team Seven bounded through the trees, flying by the massive trunks with leap after leap on the thick branches. His usually controlled breathing was starting to lose its rhythm, which made sense, as they'd been going nonstop for about an hour. "I thought we… we were too inexperienced to even think about taking them yet."

Arashi, who didn't look the least bit winded, groaned when he heard that. He turned his head just enough to glower at the Uchiha behind him. "We're finally going on a real mission and the first thing you do is ask why? Really?"

Trailing next to Sasuke, Hinata's unflinching eyes looked up to meet Arashi's, getting the jinchuuriki to cough and face forward. "Arashi-san is right for once. Although I am also curious as to why our team is being sent out on such a task so soon, our first priority should be to find out what the task is in the first place."

"Y'see, duckbutt? Even Hinata here knows what's— Hey, wait, what'd you mean 'for once?'"

Kakashi could only shake his head from his position ahead of Hinata. _Freaking kids._

The jonin did get where Sasuke was coming from, though. Most genin teams had to wait several months to even consider going on a C-rank, so it stood to reason that something strange was going on when Team Seven took one after nothing more than a week.

The truth was, this particular band of genin were ready for this from the moment they graduated. The whole point of that waiting period between forming a team and going on C-ranks was to build on teamwork through training and D-rank missions. After all, normal kids, no matter how well trained in the ninja arts, weren't generally good at working together. Of course, the whole reason Team Seven was already going on a C-rank was because none of these genin qualified as normal kids.

D-ranks were truly a waste of time for them. Not just because they were dull and didn't pertain to any real ninja skills, but because Arashi, Sasuke, and Hinata intrinsically knew from the beginning what most genin took dozens of weeks to learn: that using the strengths of others was more productive than relying solely on oneself.

While that was all well and good, Kakashi couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. It was teamwork, yes, but true camaraderie? As things stood, the jonin didn't think that any of his students truly valued one another as anything other than a means to an end. _Though I suppose that's asking for too much, huh?_

"Yo, sensei, can you finally tell us what the mission even is?"

Kakashi snapped out of his thoughts at Arashi's question. "Hm? I dunno…"

"It's been quite enough time, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata's voice sounded from behind him. "We need to know the mission parameters before we reach our destination."

The jonin glanced back at the Hyuuga and noticed that, though her expression was as aloof as always, her pace was far too erratic. Sasuke was tired, but Hinata was definitely exhausted. "Fine, I guess there's no other choice. Let's stop for a bit while I explain."

With that, Kakashi dropped to the ground below, his students following shortly after. He leaned against a tree and waited for the genin to land in front of him. Arashi stood attentively, while Sasuke and Hinata both sat. The Uchiha began catching his breath, but the Hyuuga merely sat still, not phased despite how worn out Kakashi knew she was. _I don't know if that's impressive or just scary._

"The client is the mayor of Kōunmura, Kotewaru Yuza." Kakashi said, pulling out the mission scroll and tossing it to Hinata, who went on to read through it. "Apparently, the local miners led a small rebellion against him a few days ago. The leader of the rebellion, a guy named Seigo, got thrown in jail and awaits execution."

Sasuke stood up. "Sounds like everything got resolved already," he said. "What's our job, then?"

"The mayor wants us to protect him and guard the jail Seigo is being kept in," Hinata said, throwing the scroll back to Kakashi. "The mission ends when Seigo is dead. The rebellion should die with him."

"I don't get it." Arashi said. He yawned, stretching his arms up over his head. He placed his intertwined hands on top of his head. "The leader already got caught, right? Why's this Kotewhatever guy so scared?"

Kakashi reached over and flicked Arashi on the forehead, making the genin stumble back. "The entire village is made up of the miners and their families. Kotewaru's probably surrounded by enemies right now, and as long as Seigo's alive, it stands to reason that those enemies haven't given up hope yet."

Sasuke crossed his arms, giving his red haired teammate an upturned nose. "Hn. All you had to do was think about it for more than a few seconds, idiot."

Arashi cupped his ear. "Oh, sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of your heart beating. Need a nap or something?"

The Uchiha scoffed, turning away. "Stamina freak…"

That done, the jinchuuriki looked up at his sensei. "Okay, that's cool and all, but why was there a rebellion in the first place? Did they just wanna take over?"

Kakashi looked at his student then, _really_ looked at him. Just as Arashi began to feel uncomfortable, the jonin shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?" he said. He past Hinata, barely glancing at her. "If you guys are ready, we should get moving again." She gave him an indiscernible nod, and he was off, feeling his students join him up in the trees a moment later.

As they traveled, Kakashi couldn't help but think back to Arashi's expression when he'd asked his question. The jonin could've told him then, that rebellions didn't usually start _just because_, but maybe this was one of those things that were better experienced in person. _I wonder, Arashi, what you'll think when you see the reality of our world…_

_The reality of ninja like us._

* * *

**AN:**

**Heyo.**

**This is where shit gets real, people. No Wave Arc, because frankly that's been done to death, rebirth, and death again at this point. Instead, I'm just gonna make everything up from now on. **

**So they **_**are**_** training, but I'm not really gonna focus much on it. That would be boring as hell, if I wrote an entire chapter describing Team Seven's routine in exquisite detail. Just know that it's happening, and that Kakashi is actually participating in it since he actually has some damn hope for this team.**

**instead, I'm trying to focus on developing the characters. It's important to highlight other characters apart from Arashi, you know. Just because he's my OC doesn't mean he's my favorite. My favorite's actually Hinata, to be honest, for no other reason that I can't stop myself from laughing manically whenever I think about what I have planned for her.**

**I've actually been thinking about doing a favorite character poll. It won't really affect anything, but I'm curious as to who's caught people's attention the most so far. If I do end up doing that, it'll be after the C-rank ends, which should be in about two chapters if I've planned this out correctly in my head. **

**Next time, Team Seven meets their first vibrator, Kakashi acts aloof like always, and Arashi's entire world view is challenged in potentially traumatizing ways. It'll be fun, I promise.**


	7. A Ninja's Duty

If I owned Naruto, I would own several yachts. Maybe a private jet or something, I don't know. Seeing as I can barely afford going out to eat fast food, I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: A Ninja's Duty**

* * *

Kotewaru Yuza wasn't a big person. At least, that's the first impression he made. The truth was that he was fairly average in height and even in weight. He wasn't toned in any way, but neither was he exceedingly skinny. His most discernable features were his long goatee and his pencil-thin eyebrows. Even then, it wasn't something too out of the ordinary.

That was just it, though. All the men in the background carrying huge pickaxes and moving around what could only be tons of stone and who knew what else did a good job of making Kotewaru look small in comparison.

At least, that's what Arashi thought when he and the rest of Team Seven arrived in Kōunmura. Their client had come to the town's front gates along with the rest of his family to greet them. Every now and again, a miner would look over and shoot a glare at the back of Kotewaru's head, but they'd always turn away and go back to whatever they were doing.

The mayor's family consisted of an obvious trophy wife, with her extravagantly decorated kimono and a veritable mask made of makeup, a spoiled toddler who even now couldn't shut up about not wanting to walk so much, and an older kid, probably a few years older than Arashi himself, with spiked back brown hair and green eyes that—

Arashi nearly choked. The moment he met the other boy's eyes, it felt as if something had reached over and caught his heart in its grasp. He couldn't move. The only thought crossing his head, over and over, was _Imgonnadieimgonnadieimgonnadi—_

And then the green-eyed monster looked away. The jinchurriki could finally breathe again, as if nothing had even happened. _Wh-What the hell was that?_

"You must be the ninja I paid for," Kotewaru spoke up, addressing Kakashi, who stood in front of his lined up students.

"That's right," Kakashi said. "Team Seven, at your service. I'm Kakashi, the redhead's Arashi, the frowny one with the weird haircut is Sasuke, and the Hyuuga is Hinata."

The mayor nodded, giving the genin a warm smile. "You all look very strong. I'm sure this will all go along quite swimmingly." He stepped aside, gesturing to his family. "My wife, Asai, the most beautiful woman in the Land of Fire."

At this, Asai giggled, covering her smile with a hand fan. "Kote-kun, please."

"My daughter, Yokki."

The little girl tugged at her father's robes. "Daddy, can Jisho-kun carry me back home? Pleeeeease?"

Kotewaru's smile became a little strained, but regardless, he kneeled down next to his daughter and placed his hand on her golden head. "Yokki, darling, you know Jishono can't carry you. He has to keep an eye out for the bad guys."

"But—"

"That's final," Kotewaru whispered. He stood back up, ignoring his daughter's welling tears. Facing the ninja once more, he held a hand out to the boy, who didn't bother looking their way. "This is Jishono. He's practically part of the family now, but he's also my bodyguard."

For a bodyguard, Jishono didn't look like much. He wore nothing more than a white, loose-fitting gi held up by nothing more than a long, orange piece of cloth tied around his waist. No kind of protection to speak of, not even shoes.

But the aura surrounding him spoke of nothing but murderous intent. Just by looking at the kid, and a kid he was, Arashi could tell that Joshino was ready to kill anyone who got even slightly in his way without hesitation.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, why don't we all walk over to my home?" Kotewaru asked, although it was clear that Team Seven had no real choice involved in the matter. "I'll be glad to host you all until the mission is over. We certainly have enough room."

"Of course," Kakashi said. "Lead the way, Yuza-san. We'll follow from behind."

As they began to walk through the town, with Joshino at the front, Kotwearu and his family right behind him, and the ninja at the back, Kakashi got behind his students. "Just a warning," he whispered, low enough that only his students could hear. "That Jishono… Don't mess with him, alright? I'm sure you've felt it too, but he's dangerous. It'd be best if you three just stayed out of his way."

Hinata nodded immediately, with Arashi and Sasuke following her lead after throwing each other a brief glance. Kakashi went and got in front of them again, shadowing the Yuza family and leaving the genin to themselves.

"That guy… He's packing some serious killing intent," Arashi said. He leaned his head sideways to look over at Jishono just to make sure the guy wasn't listening in somehow. "It's actually kinda scary."

Sasuke grimaced, but he crossed his arms and nodded once. "Yeah. Noticed how all the locals are avoiding us yet?"

The jinchuuriki looked around. He _had_ noticed that they'd been walking without any interruption, but it was only now that he saw how all the townspeople were actively trying to get the hell out of their way the moment they spotted the group. Or, more specifically, the moment they caught sight of Jishono.

His presence alone was enough to carve a way through all the townspeople. Even the smallest whiff of the bodyguard made men, women, and children alike pale before turning right around and going back the way they came.

"Kakashi-sensei was clear," Hinata said, not bothering to turn back when addressing the two boys behind her. "We are to keep away from him. Joshino-san has nothing to do with our mission anyway."

"Yeah, yeah," Arashi grumbled. That done, he took some time to examine his surroundings. It wasn't the grandest of locales, but Kōunmura _was_ the first place he'd ever been to outside of the Leaf.

The town was mostly made up of wooden buildings and dirt roads. The buildings themselves were fairly shoddy too, with only a few here and there being taller than one floor. Resting at the base of a mountain, the town also had a shallow slant to it, with the entrance being its lowest point. There was a forest surrounding it, with the trees completely dwarfing the buildings in size, to the point that the ninja might not have found the place all that easily if they hadn't already known its location.

It was the people that put Arashi on edge, though. He could see them hiding behind curtained windows and around corners, could feel the weight of their gaze. They were deathly afraid of being caught out in the open, but it didn't seem like that fear applied when in the shadows.

_So that's what this guy's so scared of, _Arashi thought, looking up at the back of Kotewaru's head. _He could get jumped on anytime. These guys really are out for blood._ He frowned_. But why? _

Just then, a small stone landed a few meters in front of Jishono, stopping the entire party in their tracks. They all looked up to see a dozen or so kids, all of whom couldn't have been older than eight, standing proudly on a roof two stories up.

The boy in front held his slingshot up in the air, getting a cheer from his peers. "Oi! You're looking at Shoki, the brave leader of the Undergrounders!" He pointed his other hand at Kotewaru, who just looked irritated. "We won't let you do whatever you want, stupid mayor! We'll beat up your spiky guy, and then we'll beat you up, and then we'll save the town!"

The kids behind Shoki began cheering and hooting, so loudly that Arashi was sure half the town could hear it. He could already spot all the grown ups hiding out from Joshino look at what were most likely their kids with a deep fear in their eyes.

As for Jishono himself, he was giving the band of children a glare that spoke only of annoyance. After a few seconds, he then turned to Kotewaru. "Should I deal with them?" he asked, his voice coming out in a deep grumble.

The mayor sighed, but nodded his head. "Yes, it won't do for these kids to go without a proper punishment. Try not to maim them too much."

_Maim!?_ Arashi thought, taking a step back. _Wait a minute!_

Before Joshino could do anything, Kakashi stepped forward. "Yuza-san, these are just kids we're talking about."

_Yeah, you tell him Kakashi-sensei!_

"Let one of my genin deal with something so minor," Kakashi went on to say. "Like…. Arashi."

"Huh?" Arashi suddenly found himself in the spotlight, with everyone in their little convoy staring at him. "M-Me?"

Kotewaru shrugged, turning back to the path they'd been walking so far. "I suppose it's all the same." Everyone began walking, with only Sasuke glancing back at Arashi from the corner of his eye.

Arashi held out a hand. "Wait, hold on—"

"Meet up with us after you're done!" Kakashi said, waving a hand behind him.

Arashi stared at their backs as they left him there to deal with this situation. A moment later, he groaned, looking up at the sky. _So…_ He turned to the group of kids still celebrating their perceived 'victory,' their leader getting ready to fire off his slingshot again. _What do I do?_

Sighing, the genin dashed to the building the kids stood on and ran up the wall, making it to the roof just in time to catch another rock fired by Shoki. When he did, all the children jumped back, some even falling down.

"You shouldn't go around picking fights, kid," Arashi said, letting the rock fall over the roof's edge. "So… Scram, or whatever."

Shoki was clearly taken back, but the boy took a big gulp and aimed another stone right at Arashi's forehead. "I… I won't run!" This seemed to revitalize his followers, because they all formed lines right behind him.

"Yeah!"

"We can take you together!"

"Go Undergrounders!"

The redheaded genin scratched his head, trying to think of how to get rid of the kids without kicking all their collective asses. "Why try and fight that Kotegaru guy anyway?" He asked, deciding to stall them.

"He's mean!"

"He's bossy!"

"My parents can't buy me ice cream because of him!"

"Jeez, you brats aren't very good with excuses, huh?" Arashi said, pocketing his hands.

Shoki let go of the sling shooting the rock at Arashi, who dodged with a simple nudge of his head. "You don't get it!" he screamed, running up to the ninja, fist extended. Arashi didn't even try to avoid it, letting the boy punch him right in the gut. It didn't do anything. "That stupid mayor's the reason why everyone's so mad all the time!" He kept punching, wailing on Arashi, who only looked down at the kid with confusion. "Our parents can't stop working because of him! All he ever wants is more money!"

It was then that Arashi grabbed Shoki's head and pushed the boy away from him. Shoki kept punching, only hitting air, until he got tired and stopped, letting his small arms rest by his sides. "Hold on," Arashi said, keeping the boy at an arm's length just in case, "Is that why everyone rebelled?"

"If anyone doesn't do what he says, he tells that spiky guy to beat them up," Shoki said, stepping back and glaring up at the genin. "He goes around, like everyone's his slave, and it's so unfair! But everyone's always too scared of the spiky guy to do anything!"

_Damn,_ Arashi thought, cupping his chin. _So Kotewaru's an asshole? Shit, I'm working for an asshole, then?_

He stood up straight and thumbed himself on the chest. "I'm not gonna let him make everyone do what he wants anymore! I'm not scared of him, and I'm not scared of the spiky guy either!"

Arashi thought back to the feeling he got from looking Jishono in the eyes. "You should be," he muttered, to low for any of the kids in front of him to hear.

"What?"

The genin shook his head, pocketing his hands once more. "Look, I get where you're coming from, but you shouldn't try fighting that guy. He'll kill you."

"I'm not scared—"

"You kids are brave, I'll give you that," Arashi interrupted, scanning all their faces, "but you're also being really dumb. If you don't like how things are, the only thing you can do is deal with it until someone else can fix it for you."

"You're the one who's dumb!" Shoki walked backwards until he was right in front of his gang. "Someone else like who!? There _is_ no one else!" He turned his back on Arashi and faced the other children. "C'mon guys, let's get outta here!"

After a shout of affirmation, the kids left, some skillfully climbing their way down and others running off through the interconnected rooftops. At the end of it, Arashi was left on his own, watching the Undergrounders make their exit.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Arashi said to himself, closing his eyes and palming his face. "This whole mission's such a pain in the ass all of a sudden."

* * *

Unlike the rest of Kōunmura, the Yuza mansion was beyond extravagant. Three stories tall and made of what could only be the finest wood around, it stood at the highest point of town, overlooking everything. A well-kept garden surrounded it, with flowers of all colors, koi ponds, several marble fountains, and at least five groundskeepers at all times.

Even the prison next door was probably more livable than most of the houses down the mountain. It was small, with a few cells and only one prisoner. Two guards stood in front of its entrance, each of them holding up a spear.

The entire complex was way more than what Arashi was expecting. Hell, there was a damn bridge built over a clearly artificial river separating it from the rest of town.

He walked right on in, and people must've been expecting him, because no one tried barring him from the massive doors of the mansion. Two people sitting by even stood and opened the doors _for_ him. _This guy has door people?_ Arashi thought, baffled at the notion. _He seriously pays someone to just sit around and open his doors for him?_

The inside of the mansion was even more shocking than the outside. Furnishing made of rich cloth and mahogany, gold and silver chandeliers, carpeted floors, delicate china _everywhere_, and who knew what else.

"Arashi-san," someone said from his side. Arashi looked at the speaker, a butler by the looks of it, who'd been standing there this entire time. The genin must've been too distracted to notice. "Kotewaru-sama has ordered me to take you to the dining chamber where he and your associates are having dinner. Please follow me."

"Ah, o-okay."

Arashi followed the butler through the place, all the while looking on and making a note of how much fancy crap there was. _I probably couldn't afford half this stuff in a million years,_ he thought.

Finally, they reached a large room with an equally large table. Kotewaru, his family, and Team Seven all sat around it, with Jishono looking on from the corner. The bodyguard looked up when Arashi came in, but the genin didn't meet his eyes.

The butler bowed and left, and Arashi walked over to sit next to Hinata. Kakashi looked at his student from the corner of his eye. "That took a while," he commented, going back to looking at his full plate.

A servant came in with a plate of food, setting it down in front of Arashi before disappearing soon after. Not being used to this, Arashi took a moment before answering. "Uh… Those kids were annoying," he said. Deciding his day had been long enough as it was, he dug into his meal.

"Yes, those troublemakers are far more hassle than they're worth," Kotewaru said from the head of the table. Stroking his beard, he looked to Kakashi and nodded. "I must thank you for getting your student here to take care of them. They would have just been a waste of time for my Jishono here."

The insinuation in that statement didn't escape Arashi, who was just about to voice his displeasure when Kakashi spoke up from Kotewaru's right. "Not a problem," he said, turning his head to look at the students next to him. "My genin have gotten used to doing chores recently." The jonin gave Arashi a hard stare when he said that, shutting the redhead up before he could get started.

"The Undergrounders, they called themselves." Kotewaru laughed lightly, then shook his head. "The townspeople's last resort against me, a group of children? How quaint."

"Daddy, I want a slingshot like that boy had!" Yokki said.

Kotewaru scowled, looking over at his wife on his left. "Asai, will you please take her to play in her room? There are adults talking here."

"Sure thing."

The mother waved at a servant, standing up from her seat. The servant came over and picked Yokki up, following Asai out of the room to the sounds of the girl's whinning.

"As I was saying…" Kotewaru began fanning his face with a hand fan. "The townspeople have truly reached rock bottom. Maybe Seigo's execution should be moved up to tomorrow, just to make sure I don't corner a dying animal, so to speak. What do you think, Hatake-san?"

"That would certainly put an end to this whole mess much sooner," Kakashi said, his plate completely empty.

"Let it be done, then!"

"Excuse me, Yuza-san," Sasuke said.

Arashi leaned back to look at the Uchiha behind Hinata. _Five ryo says he's about to ask a question._

"It looks like you already won. Your bodyguard looks strong enough to handle anyone here, too, so why hire us?"

_Yep, he can never just leave well enough alone._

Kotewaru smiled, showing off a set of teeth with more than one gold tooth. "It was merely a safety measure, Uchiha-san. My Jishono can of course deal with anyone, but I wouldn't put it past these bottom feeders to try something underhanded. That's where you come in."

"Why are we only needed until after Seigo's execution?" Hinata asked, and the sound of her voice made Arashi almost fall out of his chair from the suddenness. "Nothing says the rebels can't find another leader."

"My dear, you just don't understand these plebeians like I have come to," Kotewaru said, shocking the daylights out of Arashi, because he thought he'd die before he saw the day someone condescended to Hinata of all people. "Simply put, their wills are woefully weak. I must respect Seigo for being able to somehow rally the troops when those same troops can barely stand in my path without fainting." He laughed, though it came out as more of a cackle, making Arashi cringe. "Without such a man, they are hopeless. Too weak to do anything, and too cowardly to try fighting back anyway."

Kotewaru then stood up, his arms held out in front of him as he stared up at the ceiling. "And after? Why, I can barely imagine! I've been holding myself back for a long time now, but in such a helpless state, just think of the things I'll be able to get away with! I'll raise their taxes to astronomical levels! I'll work them to bone crushing exhaustion, and then make them keep working! I'll have them give me _all_ the precious stones they dig up in their mines instead of just three-fourths of them!"

Arashi narrowed his eyes out of sheer befuddlement. _Wha… Is this guy actually making an evil overlord speech right now?_

"Mine… It'll all be mine! Mine, mine, mine! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

_Are you serious!?_

The mayor coughed, then signaled Jishono. "Hatake-san, I want one of your students watching over the prison, just in case one of those boneheaded townspeople tries to break Seigo out. Can't have the man escape the night before his execution, after all." He walked out of the room, Jishono right on his heels.

Team Seven sat in silence. After a full minute, Arashi couldn't stand it anymore. "This is bullshit."

"Hinata, you should go to your guest room," Kakashi said, standing from his seat and taking out his book, which he immediately began flipping through. "Sleep for three hours, then come to me for further instructions. In the meanwhile, I'll personally take responsibility for the mansion, make sure there aren't any assassins in the middle of the night and all that."

Hinata nodded, going over to the door and following a servant to her room. Seeing this, Kakashi began walking in the same direction, but Arashi left his seat, almost throwing the chair back, and ran up to the jonin. "Sensei, you can't seriously—"

Kakashi didn't slow down. "Arashi, I'm giving you prison duty. Don't let Seigo escape."

The redhead matched the jonin's stride. "Sensei—"

"Sasuke, you can—"

"_Sensei!_"

Kakashi sighed, putting his book back in his pocket. "Alright, I'll walk you to the prison." He looked back at Sasuke, who had yet to finish his food. "Sasuke, watch the place while I'm gone. When I get back, I'm putting you in charge of the surrounding gardens. Got that?"

Sasuke looked between Kakashi and Arashi, before nodding once. "Got it."

The silver-haired man looked down at his redheaded student. "Let's go. You can tell me whatever you want on the way."

Arashi swallowed back a retort, following his sensei out of the room. After they were far enough away from the dining chamber and walking through one of the mansion's exquisitely decorated halls, he couldn't hold himself back. "This… This is wrong."

Kakashi kept his eye forward, humming once in response. "What is?" he asked.

"Everything!" Arashi gestured to the walls, full of paintings with frames that could easily be considered works of art in and of themselves. "This guy's taking all the town's stuff for himself! He's screwing everyone over, and he doesn't even care!" Just thinking back to the show Kotewaru gave them a minute ago made the genin clench his fists. "No… It's even worse. He doesn't just not care, he's _happy_ about it! That guy's pure evil!"

They walked past the front entrance and out into the front gardens, following the paved stone path to the prison. "So?" Kakashi asked, his voice dull.

"So?" Arashi repeated, almost tripping. "What do you mean 'so?' We're helping him! By tomorrow, the entire town'll be completely in his control, right?"

"Still don't see where you're going with this."

"Isn't it obvious? We have to… We have to do _something_."

The sun had just set, bathing the sky in the red and orange of twilight. They were almost to the prison, and could see the two guards set up there standing rigidly still.

"Do something, huh? Like a bunch of big damn heroes." Kakashi stopped, and Arashi, who had walked a few steps ahead before noticing that his sensei wasn't walking beside him, looked up at the jonin's hidden face. "I understand how you feel, Arashi. We probably could help those people. Too bad for them, we won't."

Arashi gritted his teeth. "Why the hell not?"

"Because we're not heroes, Arashi. We're ninja." Kakashi placed a hand on Arashi's stiff shoulder. "Look, this might be hard to hear, but these things happen. We were hired to protect Kotewaru Yuza and make sure Seigo doesn't make it out of this alive. That's what we're here to do."

"But…"

"What do you think you signed up for?" Kakashi asked, turning his back on his student. "You wanted this, didn't you? Well, here it is. We get paid, and then we do our job, no matter what it is, no matter who it's from, whatever it takes. That's the reality of our world."

Arashi glared down at his feet. "It doesn't feel right."

Kakashi turned his head just enough to look Arashi in the eye. "….. You get used to it. Believe me." He began walking back to the mansion, one hand held up behind him. "Make sure no one gets in that prison. That's an order."

* * *

Sasuke walked by the same fountain for the twenty-seventh time. Twenty-seven times walking slowly and methodically around the mansion's gardens, and he'd found nothing. _I'm starting to think there's not gonna be anything to find after all._

It stood to reason that no one had the stones to go after Kotewaru himself with Seigo already locked up. So in the end, this mission ended up being about as exciting as anything else they'd been doing for the past week. _So much for C-ranks._

"You people are pathetic."

The Uchiha snapped around, his eyes wide upon finding Jishono sitting at the edge of the fountain. _When did he—_

"I told Kotewaru-sama not to bother with you."

Sasuke crossed his arms, looking off to the side to avoid the bodyguard's glare. "Hn. What makes you say that?"

Jishono scoffed, not taking his eyes off the genin. "The bitch had to take a nap the moment she got here, and that other prick?" Somehow, the mention of Arashi made the guy look even angrier. "He's _terrified_ of me." He cocked his head. "You're scared of me too, aren't you?"

Well, the spikey-haired boy certainly didn't give a very welcoming impression. Still, Sasuke shook his head. "I've met people way scarier than you."

There was sweat building on the genin's forehead. Jishono turned away. "Tch, whatever."

Sasuke stood there, staring at the other boy as he in turn stared at seemingly nothing. _Even now, I can feel it,_ the Uchiha thought, trying not to audibly gasp for breath. _The intent to kill… It's almost overwhelming. _

Maybe… this was a different type of power? Hiruzen Sarutobi had said that there wasn't any concrete way to get stronger, so did that mean there were different kinds of strength, too? _Whatever it is,_ Sasuke thought, _I could use something like that._

"Hey," he called out, getting Jishono to glare up at him from the corner of his eye. Sasuke didn't look away, meeting the other boy's sickeningly green eyes with his. "Fight me."

Jishono just stared at him for several seconds, whether in disbelief or in annoyance he didn't know. "What?"

"Fight me," Sasuke said again, voice steady. "Right here, right now."

"What a fucking waste."

It didn't look like Jishono was up for it, but Sasuke had hung around Arashi for long enough to know how to push someone's buttons. "You don't want us here right?" he asked. "Your master didn't care what you had to say, though, did he? I'm betting he doesn't care much about you at all."

The spikey-haired boy sat up, spitting on the ground before facing Sasuke. "You're really asking for it," he said, his body tensing up as much as his glower. The pressure surrounding him increased tenfold, the aura of death almost visible.

Sasuke uncrossed his arms, taking note of the bodyguard just a few meters away. No stance or guard to speak of, eyes dead-set on his own, and coiled up like a spring right from the start. _He's got no training to speak of, _the Uchiha deduced, feeling a shaky breath escape him, _so why do I feel so on edge? What the hell is this?_

"Kotewaru-sama doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself," Jishono growled, preparing a punch. "But that doesn't mean you can talk about shit you don't even understand!"

Without warning, Jishono exploded off the ground, getting inside Sasuke's guard in a second. Just a few centimeters away, Sasuke could see the face of pure, unadulterated violence getting closer by the moment, and right then he felt a primal fear in him that he'd only ever experienced once before.

But he _had_ experienced it.

Sasuke wrapped his hands around Jishono's advancing forearm, twisted until he was facing away from death itself, and threw the other boy over his shoulder. Jishono sailed through the air and landed on two steady feet, somehow managing to look even more angry than before.

It was then that Joshino felt it. Thin, metallic wires tied around his forearm, all coming from the Uchiha's skilled fingers. Even now, Joshino could see Sasuke about to pull on the wires, the ninja's eyes focused solely on the tied-up limb.

So Joshino grabbed the wires and pulled first. Sasuke was sent off his feet with such force that he could only gape in shock as he saw Jishono's other arm come far too close. A fist pounded into Sasuke's abdomen, taking with it all the air in his lungs.

**"One Dozen!"**

Complete and utter numbness. One second it was pain, and then it was nothing. Sasuke staggered back a few steps from Jishono's upheld fist, his arms coming up to close around his stomach. He then fell on his knees, hunched over, and puked.

Jishono let his arms fall back on his sides, glaring down at the paralyzed genin. "See?" he said, turning around and walking away. "Pathetic."

Sasuke didn't even notice. He slouched there on the ground for what felt like forever, his mind disjointed. The Uchiha could barely explain to himself what had just happened. It felt like he'd been pounded on over and over again in the same spot in the span of a second. He couldn't breathe. All that came out of his throat was a mousey groan, and he didn't even have control of _that_.

_I think…. I think I'll just stay here like this for a while…_

* * *

"Twenty-one bottles of sake on the wall, twenty-one bottles of sake…"

Arashi sighed, taking a second to look down at the guards at the entrance to the prison from his place on its roof. They were asleep. Great. He yawned, rubbing his eyes before staring up at the nighttime sky. "Take one down and pass it around, twenty bottles of sake on the wall. Twenty bottles of sake on the wall, twenty bottles of—"

Something smacked against the side of the building. As silently as he could, Arashi stood up and crouched his way to where the sound came from. He looked down over the edge and found…

"Really?" Arashi muttered, taking his hand away from his kunai holster.

Climbing up the ladder was Shoki, dressed in clothes varying in color from black to dark brown. The kid reached a barred window and stopped there, taking out a small knife from the knapsack slung around his shoulder.

The genin considered alerting the guards, but quickly let go of the idea. Arashi could deal with the kid for a second time, and plus, after seeing Kotewaru for what he was, the people on his payroll didn't give the ninja much confidence.

Shoki began running the knife's edge against one of the bars, trying his best to keep the screech of metal on metal as low as possible. It was hard to cut into, but he could already see some progress being made. If he squinted…

"Yo."

Shoki almost fell back, one arm spinning back to keep him balanced on the ladder. When he was safe, he looked over and found Arashi casually _standing on the side of the wall_. "What the—"

Arashi held a finger to his lips and shushed. "Shut it!" he whispered, bending his knees and crouching to better get on Shoki's level despite the fact that he was sideways. "You're lucky enough that everyone else here's asleep, kid. Don't go waking them up by falling to your death." He looked at the barred window, then back at the kid, then at the little butter knife in the kid's hands, and then back at the kid again. "Are you really trying to break someone out of jail? Seriously? By yourself?"

"Everyone else was t-too scared," Shoki said, his hands trembling.

The genin scoffed under his breath. "So much for your brave band of outlaws, then." He noticed Shoki's shaking and held up both his hands. "Hey, woah, calm down, kid. I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."

Shoki breathed in deeply and exhaled a few seconds later. "W-Well, what are you gonna do then?"

Scratching his head, Arashi stood and began walking back up to the roof. "C'mon up," he said, waving with his unoccupied hand. "I guess I can just keep an eye on you for now and make sure you don't try anything. I could use the company."

When he reached the roof, Arashi sat down and stared off at the gardens. A minute later, he saw Shoki walk up next to him from the corner of his eye. The kid took a second to look down at him— and Arashi really couldn't blame Shoki for his hesitation— before sitting down as well.

They stayed like that for a while, with Arashi trying his best to keep sleep away and Shoki trying not to stare too hard. The silence continued until Arashi felt a tug at his sleeve. He turned to look at the boy next to him, who fidgeted in place at the attention.

"What is it?"

"Um… You're a ninja, right?"

"Yup."

"You don't look like one."

Arashi blinked, turning back away from Shoki. "What? What's a ninja supposed to look like, then?"

"You know," Shoki covered his entire face with his hands, leaving a small space for his eyes to see through, "masks and stuff. Ninja cover their faces, don't they? And your clothes… Ninja're supposed to wear all black and hide in the shadows and all that."

Snorting, Arashi leaned back on his elbows. "Since when? Who told you all that?"

"I just heard about it."

"Well, you're wrong. We can wear whatever we want. I mean, it doesn't matter what we look like when we can just change that whenever." Arashi clasped his hands into a series of hand seals before ending on the ram. **"Transformation."** His body was enshrouded in smoke, and when it dissipated, he was covered head to toe in a black, skintight suit with equally black wrappings covering his entire head. "See?"

Shoki's eyes had never been wider. "_Woooooah!_ Cool!"

"Right?" Arashi released the transformation, changing himself back to normal with another puff of smoke. Smiling, he held up a peace sign. "Being a ninja's pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah!" Shoki closed his eyes, fists pumping at his sides. "Man, I wish I was a ninja! Then I could beat that spiky guy no problem!"

Just the thought of Jishono wiped the mirth from Arashi's face. "I wouldn't say that…"

Silence ensued for a few moments, with Shoki happily daydreaming about his ninja misadventures and Arashi trying to forget about the horrifying killer wandering around somewhere in the compound.

Finally, Shoki turned to him. "Hey, I think you're a pretty cool guy, Ninja-san. You didn't beat me up before, and you haven't told on me yet either."

Arashi shrugged, yawning out into the open air. "Eh, don't sweat it, kid."

"So you're totally gonna beat that spiky guy for me, right?"

Arashi's hand slipped from it's place on the roof, sending his head crashing down into its hard surface. Sitting up, the genin grabbed the back of his head with both hands. "OW! Owowow! What!? What're you talking about all of a sudden!?"

"You're a good guy, I can tell!" Shoki stood up, looking down at the genin as he nursed his injury. "You said to get someone else to help us, right? Well, why not you?"

"It's… not that simple," Arashi said, looking up at the kid with one eye closed.

"Sure it is! The mayor's a bad guy, and the spiky guy works for him, so he's a bad guy too! You're a good guy, and you're strong, so you _have_ to fight them!"

"Dude, I work for the mayor too," Arashi said, not quite able to hold back a grimace. "Shouldn't that make _me_ a bad guy?"

"No!"

"You really need to work on your logic there…"

"Please?"

Arashi looked into those pleading eyes, and for a second felt it inside him to agree, to do what he himself knew was the right thing, because come _on_. In a world of endless gray, he'd found the one man who was so clearly evil, so clearly taking advantage of others for his own selfish purposes. A perfect black and white situation.

One he'd been forced into the wrong side of.

_That's the reality of our world._

And as suddenly as that feeling had risen up, it dropped. Because this wasn't some fantasy book where the knight in shining armor came and saved the town from the evil monster. It didn't matter what he thought, because he was a ninja, and a ninja did his job no matter what.

"I-I can't. Sorry."

So meek. His voice came out so quiet and _soft_. But what was so wrong with having a duty and sticking to it? Right and wrong had nothing to do with him, right? Things were more complicated than that.

And yet he couldn't help but be embarrassed.

"Why not?"

It was the same thing he'd asked Kakashi. The same hopeless question. "Because I'm not a hero, Shoki." Arashi drew his knees up against his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs and digging his chin into the space between his knees. "I'm a ninja."

Eventually, Arashi built up the courage to look up at the kid standing before him, and when he did, he was shocked speechless. He didn't find a glare or a frown in Shoki's gaze. Instead, he found…

Denial. Shoki looked down at him, and all Arashi could see in those eyes was denial.

"Anyone can be a hero," the boy said, and for the first time, all of Shoki's past boasts and threats seemed believable. He pointed down. "That guy in there… Seigo told me that. _Me_." Shoki clenched his fists, his shoulders beginning to shake. "I'm not stupid, you know. I know I'm just a kid, and I can't do much, but still, I…" He bit his bottom lip. "If someone like me can at least try, then… Then maybe you can actually do it!" Shoki was struggling to keep quiet, and the guards below were probably beginning to wake up, but neither of them found it in them to care at that moment. "I can tell that you wanna do something! So please, don't be scared like everyone else!"

Arashi got to his feet and put his hands in his pockets. Sighing, He nudged his head towards the ladder still held up against the side of the building. "Get outta here before you get caught, kid."

Shoki clearly didn't want to leave, but even he must've realized that he couldn't hang around any longer. He walked over to the ladder, and just before he climbed down it, he turned his gaze back to Arashi one last time.

When he was gone, Arashi felt a weight lift off his shoulders, one he didn't even know was there. The genin held out a hand and looked down at it, clenching and unclenching his fingers.

_Is this… what having someone else believe in you feels like?_ Arashi grunted, fisting his hand as hard as he could. _Idiot. Don't go around giving your trust to people who don't want it._

* * *

Jishono went inside the mansion, not minding the tensed up servants he walked past. Right before he reached the staircase to the second floor, he saw Hinata sitting on a chair in the middle of the hall, her hands resting on her knees and her white eyes wide.

The intensity in her stare gave him pause, and the veins surrounding her eyes didn't help. Flexing his arms, Jishono glared down at her and bared his teeth. She didn't seem to notice. "You have a problem with me?" he asked, taking a step towards her.

"I apologize if my byakugan unnerves you," she said, her stillness otherwise unbroken. "However, it's necessary in order for me to protect the entirety of the compound to the best of my ability."

The byakugan. Even Jishono had heard of it, though he'd never seen it in person until now. Raising his chin, his glare softened into a scowl. "You can see everything then."

"If you mean your confrontation with Sasuke-san, then yes, I did see it."

Jishono shifted idly in his stance, finding himself unable to keep his eyes on hers for very long. "…. He started it."

"You don't need to justify yourself to me."

She really didn't care at all, did she? Wasn't that Uchiha her teammate? Jeez. "Whatever. Next time you see that douche, tell him this," he said, turning back towards the stairs. Before he took another step, Jishono cranked his neck to glare at her from the corner of his eye straight to her forehead. "Kotewaru-sama's a true piece of shit, and I don't care about him. But he saved me once, so I owe him my life. It's as simple as that."

She blinked and nodded once, thereby moving more than he'd seen her move this entire time. Shaking his head, Jishono climbed up the stairs. "Creepy bitch…"

* * *

Sitting at the edge of one of the many ponds scattered around the Yuza family compound, Sasuke lazily tossed a stone. It skipped on the water several times before landing on the other side of the pond.

_It's got to be a bloodline, right?_ he thought to himself, searching the ground for another rock to throw. _I've never heard or read about anything like that before_. Just the memory of Jishono's attack made Sasuke cringe. His stomach was still sore, and it didn't look like that would go away anytime soon.

The memory also made him think of some pretty unpleasant facts. _A bloodline… Damn it, why the hell don't I have my sharingan yet?_ It was something he'd been growing increasingly worried about. According to everything his family had on the Uchiha bloodline, his eyes should've awoken by now. Either that, or they wouldn't show up at all.

_Someday, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me!_

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke beamed the rock in his hand straight at the pond. It hit the murky surface in an explosion of water, sinking shortly after.

_If you want to kill me… curse me!_

Sasuke picked up another one and sent his arm back, gripping the stone hard enough to crack his knuckles.

_Hate me!_

Before the Uchiha could throw anything, another stone flew from behind him. It only needed to skip on the pond once to make it all the way to the other side, landing in some bushes a few meters away from the water.

"I knew I'd still be number one!"

Arashi walked over, standing next to Sasuke's spot on the ground. "I saw your last one, man," the jinchuuriki shook his head and tutted. "For my young student to be so out of practice… It's disappointing, really."

Sasuke stared up at his teammate for a full five seconds before turning away with a scoff. "Please…"

His arm a blur, Sasuke threw the stone. It skipped once on the lake and flew up, hitting an apple off a low tree branch.

Now it was Arashi's turn to stare. "…... That's just unfair."

"Hn. Looks like the student has surpassed the master." Sasuke allowed himself a brief quirk of the lips, but it was gone as soon as it came. He grunted when Arashi took a seat, leveling a stern gaze on the redhead. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding the prison?"

"Kakashi-sensei's filling in for me for a few hours," Arashi said, yawning by the end.

"You're actually tired?"

"Even I need my sleep, y'know."

"I guess there really _is_ a first time for everything." A second later, Sasuke frowned. "So, why are you even here?"

Arashi thumbed his nose. "I could feel the angsting from all the way over there. You really need to be more careful with that stuff, duckbutt. I can't sleep with that all over the air, it seriously kills the mood."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Like I haven't heard that from you before." The Uchiha glanced over at Arashi, his eyes narrowed. "Not like you're one to talk, anyway."

Arashi did a double take, his eyebrows raised. The surprise passed quickly, though, and he grinned. "Yeah, I guess the Mope King himself would know, huh?"

"Don't call me that."

"Of course, your majesty."

"… So annoying…"

The redheaded genin rubbed his eyes, releasing a long and loud yawn. This time, Sasuke joined him, letting out a small yawn himself. "What would you do Sasuke?" Arashi asked. "The right thing, or the easy thing?"

The question was met with silence. After a while, Sasuke closed his eyes and clicked his tongue. "Not doing the right thing isn't easy either, idiot."

Arashi sighed. "Yeah, I guess it really isn't as simple as that."

"No, it is," Sasuke said, putting a hand up to his hair and combing it back. He sent Arashi a penetrating gaze, making the jinchuuriki freeze in place. "It always annoyed me how hard you have to think about everything. How about you just trust your gut for once?"

"My gut isn't exactly trustworthy," Arashi said, placing his hand on said gut.

"You're wrong."

There was no doubt in Sasuke's voice. The lack of it made Arashi pause, but he just scoffed and blew a strand of hair out of his eyes. "How would you know?"

Sasuke set his eyes on the pond. "Because you haven't changed a bit, at least not in the way that matters," he said, and for a brief moment, he smirked. "And even back then, the only one who didn't trust that gut of yours was you."

"Back then…" Arashi leaned back, looking up at the night sky. It was the same sky they stared at for hours on end years ago up on Sasuke's roof. All the constellations he'd memorized were coming back to him now. "You changed a lot from back then."

"Hn."

"Like, you actually used to have a sense of humor."

"… I resent that. I still have a sense of humor."

"Yeah, but it's pretty much all insults."

"Half of everything you say is a witty quip, the other half is you making a half-assed attempt to sound smart, and pretty much all of it is something you'll regret saying later."

"See what I mean? Such a downer…"

They let those words sit for a few seconds, both of them staring off in different directions. Then Arashi let out a chuckle. Just like that, the dam broke, and the both of them began laughing. Sasuke's mirth was a bit more subdued than Arashi's, not going past a grudging snicker as opposed to his teammate's out-and-out hysterics, but neither of them were expecting that line to be crossed no matter how funny a joke was said.

"H-Hey, remember that time when we tried cooking for your family?"

"How could I forget? You almost set the entire house on fire."

"Me? Who's the one that thought roasting a pork via fire technique was a better plan than just using the oven?"

"Who's the one that wanted me to show off my fireball so badly?"

"That doesn't mean anythi—" Arashi yawned.

"Hn. I'd rather not have you pass out here in the open."

"It's fine. I can stay up a bit longer."

* * *

**AN: **

**As you may have noticed, this little arc is more about the characters and less about the mission itself. The stakes aren't as high as they were in Wave, but that's not the point. The point is that the events of this chapter and especially the next will shape the whole story.**

**On Sasuke… well, I always wondered why everyone thought he was such a pain in the ass early on. As in, before he got bit by Orochimaru, and even a bit after. If I remember correctly, he was actually pretty cool back then. Kind of an asshole, and for sure at least a little mentally unstable, but he was an all-around okay guy.**

**As for Arashi? I don't wanna lay it on too thick or anything because, y'know, I respect your intelligence as a reader, but let's just say that years of shunning and basically being treated as literally non-existent isn't something I've forgotten about. I've already hinted at it several times now, but needless to say, there's something seriously wrong with him.**

**Anyway, I wanna know what you all think, especially about Jishono. His part isn't even close to done here, and from the way things look to be going, he's gonna have a pretty… surprising… part to play in the future.**

**Next time, that guy who we haven't even met yet is getting executed, Kakashi explains stuff, Arashi does his damn job, and Jishono gets pissed (again… continuously).**


	8. A Ninja's Dream

Who owns Naruto? I don't own Naruto! Yay...

*sigh* Damn it.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: A Ninja's Dream**

* * *

_Lying face down on his couch, Arashi reached into his bag of chips with one hand and turned the page on the manga he was reading. It was nothing special, just another 'based on true events' story about some ninja who got in way over his head. _

_Even so, it was pretty sweet to see the things he might be doing in a few more years. Munching down on a handful of potato chips, Arashi's eyes widened when the hero of the story ended a whole fight in one punch. "Cool…"_

_It made him think of the kind of ninja he would be. He didn't want to end up as a run-off-the-mill jack-of-all-trades like most eventually seemed to. Maybe he could try for the tricky type? The one who lays the traps and outsmarts their opponents into submission?_

_Arashi imagined himself staying back while everyone else went and fought, only to come in at just the right moment to catch the enemy off-guard. The thought made him cringe. Playing it smart was all well and good, but it didn't feel right, at least for him._

_How about a brute force one, then? Too simple? Maybe the kind that could trap everyone in some kind of unbreakable illusion or something? A super secret undercover specialist? _

_A knock broke him out of his reverie. He looked over at his front door, not sure about what he should do. The Yondaime and Ryuka had already come over for their weekly visit three days ago, not to mention how busy they should be on this specific day._

"_Oi, Arashi!" The following knock was louder. And it didn't stop. "Open up, Arashi!"_

_The voice made Arashi roll off the couch and almost run over to the door. He held out his hand and, after some hesitation, turned the knob. The moment he did, the door swung open and almost slammed him in the face, revealing a grinning Sasuke and an exasperated Itachi._

_Before anything could be done, Itachi looked down at Arashi and let out a long, deliberate sigh. "I'm sorry about this."_

"_What—"_

"_Dude, why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" Sasuke asked, brushing past Arashi and going in the apartment. Turning to face his friend, Sasuke kept walking backwards into the kitchen. "I had to find out from my mom!"_

_Arashi stared at the spot where the Uchiha disappeared, completely speechless. A cough from Itachi snapped him out of it, and he stepped back, holding the door open. "Ah, come in Itachi-san."_

"_Thank you, Arashi-san," the elder Uchiha said, walking in as Arashi closed the door behind him._

_The both of them went further inside the apartment until they found Sasuke standing just behind the tiny dinner table, both hands behind his back. Arashi stopped when he was on the other side of the table, but Itachi continued until he was standing next to his brother._

_While Itachi's fairly dull expression was nothing new, Sasuke's face-splitting smirk set the other boy on edge. "What?" Arashi asked, scratching the back of his neck. He'd known the other academy student for long enough to know that the sheer giddiness in Sasuke's face wasn't a normal thing._

"_Well, since it's your birthday and all, I figured I'd bring you a gift!" Sasuke brought up his hands and showed his friend a scroll. He unfurled it and laid it on the table, and when nothing happened, he nudged Itachi with his elbow, coughing._

_Sighing again, Itachi brought up his hands in a seal. __**"Release."**_

_The scroll was obscured by a puff of smoke, fading to reveal… a cake. A chocolate cake, with the words, 'Happy Birthday, Arashi!' haphazardly scrawled with red frosting in what could only be Sasuke's sloppy handwriting. _

"_So… You like it?"_

_Arashi couldn't look away. Of course, he'd eaten cake before on a rare few occasions, but they weren't for him. They were never for him. _

"_Arashi?"_

"_Y-Yeah," Arashi stuttered out, pretending to rub his eyes. When he stopped, he tried to dry of his hands with his pants as inconspicuously as he could. "I… Thanks."_

_Sasuke smiled wide, scratching his nose. "Heh, it turned out pretty good, didn't it? I guess I can try being a baker if the whole ninja thing doesn't work out."_

_It was then that Itachi decided to intervene. "I distinctly remember doing all the work while you sat around waiting for it to get done."_

"_H-Hey, I helped!"_

"_Being a taste-tester isn't much help…"_

_A knock from the door thankfully ended the argument before it could begin. Sasuke perked up, already walking over to it even as Arashi turned around. "I got it!"_

"_Ah…" Arashi felt like he should be the one to welcome guests into his own home, but it seemed that Sasuke was way too merry to stop at the moment. _

_Itachi and Arashi stood there, hearing the door open. A few seconds after it did, they both heard some murmuring, followed by a fairly loud shout. Sasuke rushed back, almost tripping on his feet, and grabbed a startled Arashi by the shoulders. "Why!?" the Uchiha asked, almost screaming._

"_Why, what!?"_

"_Why didn't you tell me that you knew the Hokage!?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Um." Said Hokage rounded the corner, an eyebrow quirked up. "Is everything alright?"_

_Ryuka came up from behind him, her eyes closed and her smile big. "Happy birthday, Arashi!" she said, holding up a vanilla cake with those same words plastered on top. Her smile left when she caught sight of the cake on the table. "W-Wait, you already got one?"_

"_Ryuka-san—"_

"_Oi, what have I told you about being all stuffy?" the assistant asked, storming over to Arashi, placing her cake next to the other one, shoving Sasuke out of the way, and cradling the jinchuuriki's head in her arms. "Just call me Ryuka, or Ryu-chan!"_

"_L-L-Let me go…"_

"_Aw, you're so cute when you pretend you don't like to cuddle!"_

_Sasuke, seeing all of this, knew he had to do something. Going over to the woman holding his friend, the Uchiha began pulling hard at her sleeve. "Get off him, lady!"_

"_Don't worry, I've got some for you too!" Ryuka reached out and pulled Sasuke close. "I always have more room for cute little babies!"_

_Itachi, who by now had walked over to stand next to Minato, watched it all with more than a little trepidation. "Is she always like this?" he asked._

_Minato, both hands already covering his face, blew air out his nose. "Yes, yes she is..."_

"_I am sincerely sorry for you, Hokage-sama."_

"_Thanks. Doesn't help, but thanks." Placing his hands on his hips, Minato cleared his throat. "Ryuka, you can't just start harassing random kids. Stop it."_

"_Argh, fine," Ryuka said, letting the boys go. They hid behind Itachi and Minato almost immediately. "Only because you give me my paycheck."_

_Minato turned around, letting out a breath in relief. "I feel like even that's starting to lose its weight at this point," he said, watching as Itachi fruitlessly tried to comfort his now traumatized brother. Shaking his head, he reached down to rub Arash's hairi, managing a smile. "Oh well. Happy Birthday, Arashi."_

_Arashi's gaze was set firmly on the floor, his cheeks still red. "Yeah."_

_Reaching into his pocket, Minato hummed, his other hand coming up to hold his chin. "You know, I did get you a present, but now I'm thinking you won't like it very much."_

_That got Arashi's full attention. "Present?" He'd never gotten one of those before. "I'd... I'd like that."_

"_I don't know…"_

"_I'd love that!"_

"_Alright, jeez, let's not get worked up about it either." Minato kneeled down to Arashi's level. "So Ryuka thought it was a bad idea—"_

"_Still do!" the woman interjected, cutting out a slice of cake for Sasuke, who's spirits were back to normal at the idea of the baked delicacy._

"—_but I figured that it wouldn't be dangerous now that you're in training. Anyway," Minato took it out of his pocket and held it out to Arashi, "here."_

_It was one of the Hokage's tri-pronged kunai, only blunted. Seemed normal enough, but upon closer inspection, Arashi noticed some words inscribed onto the fake blade. _For a True Ninja!

"_You're… giving this to me?" Arashi asked, taking the blunted weapon._

"_W-Well, you seem committed, so I figured it was time to make it official." Minato scratched his cheek, chuckling. "I think you'll make a great ninja one day, Arashi."_

"_I…" And as he looked between the kunai in his hands and the man who'd given it to him, his future was clear. "I wanna be a ninja like you, Minato-sama!"_

_Out of all the things Arashi had been expecting in response, a sharp frown was not one of them. "Arashi…" Minato shook his head, looking off to the side. "… You don't want to be like me."_

"_Minato-sama?"_

_The Hokage stood up. "Come on, let's go eat some cake."_

* * *

Today was the day.

Arashi knew the knock was coming. He'd been waiting for it since he woke up, sitting on the side of his bed and trying to ignore the glimmering that surrounded him. For a guest room, it wasn't any less decorated than anywhere else in the mansion.

"Come in."

Hearing the door open behind him, Arashi stood up and turned around. "It's time, huh?"

Hinata nodded, standing by the doorway. "First thing in the morning, just as Yuza-san ordered."

"Let's get it over with, then," Arashi said, walking over.

Just as he went past Hinata, the Hyuuga turned her head towards his. "Arashi-san."

He faced her, meeting her eyes. "Hm?"

At any other moment, Arashi would've found the distance between them uncomfortable. Her face was practically centimeters from his, after all. Today, though, he couldn't really find it in him to care.

"When we first met, you were scared of me."

Flinching back, Arashi felt heat build in his cheeks. "N-Not true…"

"I appear to make people uneasy, even my own family." She paused, seeming to mull over her words. "However, you don't seem to be affected by me anymore."

"I got used to it, I guess."

Hinata shook her head. "Sasuke-san can't seem to look me in the eyes like you are now."

That got a grin out of the redhead. "Heh, well then he's not as tough as he thinks he is," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "You have to admit, though," he smirked, one of his eyebrows quirking up, "you don't make it very easy, do you?"

The Hyuuga blinked. "I don't understand."

"The thing you do where you only ever make one face? You've gotta admit it's kinda creepy."

"I've never experienced it whenever I've look in the mirror. Is this some kind of trick?"

Arashi couldn't help it. He laughed, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. Hinata just stared at him, nonresponsive, but he didn't really mind. Calming down, the jinchuuriki sighed. "Man… Thanks, Hinata. I needed that."

"I suppose you are welcome," she said. Without another word, the Hyuuga walked out of the room, heading down the hall.

The remaining genin watched her leave, a smile still lingering on his lips. As soon as she rounded the corner, however, it quickly left as thoughts of today seeped back into his mind.

_No use staying here,_ he thought, leaving his room and closing the door behind him.

* * *

It was to be done in the town square, where everyone could see. It wasn't much of a square, in truth, just an open area in the center of town surrounded by a few shops here and there along with the houses. It was big enough to fit all of Kōunmura, and seemingly everybody had shown up to see their leader get killed for his efforts.

Kotewaru had deemed to only take a few of his guards with him, so Kakashi had instructed his students to be extra weary in case something happened. From the way the crowd opened to give the procession room, however, it seemed like the jonin's fears were baseless.

Seigo, his wrists and ankles bound in chains, shuffled along to his death, looking around at his people in expectation. The reality of his situation must've sunk in, though, as his head hung lower and lower with every second of inaction. They didn't even try to fight back. Arashi could see it on their faces, the anger and the frustration, but no one came up and actually tried to put a stop to it.

And of course, it was all due to the miasma of danger pouring out of Jishono's every pore. He personally saw to Seigo's progress, shoving the man forward. He didn't look like he reveled in the clear fear he could cause. There was no enjoyment, just the constant assertion of his rage.

Not for the first time, Arashi wondered what his deal was. It was like everything just made Jishono angrier and angrier. If he wasn't so unnerved by the guy, he might've actually gone up and asked why.

Finally, the group made it to the center. Kotewaru nodded to his guards, and they proceeded to spread out and get the crowd to form a wide circle, shouting and even threatening. That done, the mayor then held up a hand to Kakashi. "I'm going to have to ask you and yours to stay back a bit. Not to worry, I just mean to say a few words, and I'm sure my Jishono alone is enough protection for a few seconds."

Kakashi shrugged. "Yeah, whatever you say."

Kotewaru then walked forward, Jishono following him with clearly unwilling Seigo. When they reached the center, Seigo was put on his knees, and Kotewaru faced the crowd.

"You see where this has all brought us?" he said, his voice audible to everyone in the square. He lay his hand on Seigo's head. "A man, dead, because of all of you!"

No one said anything. It was eerily quiet, to the point that Arashi could hear the sound of his own breathing more than the combined noise a crowd of such size should generate.

"So you thought to go against me because, what, I was being unfair?" Kotewaru spread his arms, the smug smirk on his face spreading right along with them. "This is me at my most fair! Justice! Finally, I will put all this to rest! No more fighting! Not in _my_ town!" He put his arms down, nodding to Jishono as he walked back to stand with the ninja. "Put him down."

Jishono walked to stand in front of Seigo. Just as he raised his hand, there was a commotion in the crowd.

"Stop it!"

Pushing past the townspeople, a boy came running to Seigo's side. Eyes widening, Arashi made out the boy's features. The unkempt black hair, the tanned skin, the patchy clothes. _Shoki._

The boy held up his hands, his whole body rocked with uncontrollable shaking. Shoki gulped, then looked up at Jishono's glower. "I'm n-n-n-not letting y-you—"

Jishono reached over and shoved Shoki to the ground.

Clenching his hands, Arashi began trembling almost as bad as Shoki. He glanced around to the rest of his team, but Kakashi and Hinata both stared ahead apathetically while Sasuke just looked away.

Arashi watched as Jishono brought his hand down onto Seigo's face, the fingers spreading out and covering it completely. He didn't want to see what would happen, but his eyelids were glued open and his neck was jammed up.

This was it. The truth of his life laid bare. And as he stood there, his hands clenched into fists and his teeth clamped shut, he accepted that. The townspeople all around them faded, as did his teammates, his sensei, his employer, the trees and the animals and all the sounds that came with them. Even the ground under his feet and the sky high above were no more. There was only the executioner, the hero, and him.

_That's the reality of our world._

Finally, Arashi closed his eyes. If that's how things were, then so be it.

Jishono flexed his hand.

**"Quaking—"**

**"Flicker Burst!"**

Arashi's foot planted itself on Jishono's cheek. The spiky-haired boy was sent flying into a tree, almost splintering it beyond repair.

"Shit… Shit!" Arashi took a wide stance in front of a stupefied Seigo, his hands already formed into a tiger seal. "Everyone, back off! I'm gonna need some space here!" he shouted to the assembled masses. Some did as he said, stumbling back, but most were too stunned to move.

Kotewaru, for once, completely understood the feelings of his subjects. Pushing a guard out of the way, he stood in front of Kakashi and pointed to the redheaded genin. "What… What in the heavens is that child _doing_!?" he asked, nearly shaking.

Kakashi, for his part, could only groan and pinch the bridge of his nose. "Something stupid."

Sasuke sighed, nodding in agreement. _Damn, Arashi,_ he thought, crossing his arms, _you really do make for one terrible ninja. _

Shoki picked himself from the dirt, running up to Arashi with a wide smile on his face. "I… I knew it! You're the best, Ninja-san!"

"Shut up the hell up, kid." Not taking his eyes off Jishono, who by this point was starting to shake the hit off, Arashi nudged his head back in Seigo's direction. "Make yourself useful and get him outta here, alright?"

"Yes, sir!" Shoki went over to the town hero, glancing at all the people that surrounded them. "Didn't you hear him? You guys are all just in the way!"

That seemed to snap the townspeople out of it, and they all gave Arashi a significantly wide berth.

As Shoki helped Seigo up onto his feet, the man gave Arashi a look of pure gratitude, although the genin couldn't see it. "Your name…"

That request was simple enough to fulfil. "Arashi."

The mayor of Kounmura saw a little boy taking Seigo to safety, a high pitched gurgle making its way out his throat. He grabbed Kakashi by his collar, pulling the ninja closer. "What are you doing!? Aren't you going to stop this madness!?"

Kakashi, unimpressed as ever, didn't even bother to get his client's hands off him. Not like the guy could actually hurt him anyway. "It hasn't gotten out of hand yet."

"Are you _serious_!?"

"Yeah." It was then that Kakashi stepped back, pulling himself out of Kotewaru's grasp quite easily. "Just by looking at your little bodyguard, I can tell Arashi doesn't stand a chance. This'll all resolve itself pretty soon."

"But—"

"Plus, you'll show the townspeople how much power you have over them when they see your man beat a trained ninja."

"Seigo—"

"Won't be going anywhere we can't follow him to, especially in those shackles."

"He— I— Argh!" Kotewaru, scowled, facing the confrontation that was brewing. "I have faith in my Jishono. But if you need to step in at any time—"

Kakashi waved him off. "I will. No worries on that front."

Hinata looked on, her head cocked to the side. "He does realize how much trouble he's in, doesn't he?" she asked Sasuke.

The Uchiha shrugged. "Here's hoping he can get out of this alive, at least."

Fixing him with her white eyes, Hinata inclined her head. "You should know more than anyone else the chances of that happening."

"Hn." Sasuke turned away from her. _Don't die, idiot._

Jishono stood up, hunched over in rage. "What the fuck are you doing?" he growled, sending Arashi the most burning, spiteful glare he could manage. His cheek was already bruising up, and the side of his lip was bleeding, but none of that seemed to matter to him. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, you know that!?"

The killing intent oozing out of every pore in Jishono's body was enough to almost bring Arashi to his knees right then and there. "Yeah, p-probably," the jinchuuriki said, trembling. "Not gonna lie, this was pretty stupid."

Gritting his teeth, Arashi forced himself to stand still, and though every part of his being was telling him to _get the hell out of there right this second_, he met Jishono's eyes and glared right back. "But you know what? I'm glad I'm this stupid! Even if I'm not supposed to be doing any of this… I don't care about that! Because… Because—" Arashi gulped down the fear running up and down his body, gulped down the uncertainty, the frustration. "I wanna be the kind of ninja who can get looked up to without shame! The kind that can proudly tell others to be like me! So I'll take you on, right here, right now! Even if I die, I'll do it without regrets!"

Because he wanted to believe that sitting by wasn't all a ninja was good for. Accepting the way things were couldn't be the only thing for him to do. There _was_ more than one answer. He just had to be brave and try to find it.

"Well whoop-dee-fucking-doo," Jishono said, spitting out a wad of blood. Without warning, he raised a foot. **"Quaking Impact!"**

The moment Jishono brought his foot down, the earth exploded. The entire area around them began shaking and breaking off into smaller pieces, some rising out of the ground and others being swallowed by it.

Arashi's balance was thrown off completely. There was no time to think, however, because Jishono was already coming at him, a fist up and ready. With no other options, the jinchuuriki flung himself out of the way, landing on his hands and knees before rolling up to his feet.

Jishono right before him, Arashi's hands came together. It was time to end this. **"Flicker Burst!"**

The next thing he knew, Arashi's entire body planted itself into one of the massive pillars of earth that had been uprooted because of the earthquake. "Urk!"

Looking over the battle from the edge of the now destroyed area, Sasuke was just as surprised. "He dodged it?"

"That technique does have a pretty fatal flaw, after all," Kakashi said. "Sure, it takes up a lot of chakra, but the worst thing about it is how predictable it is."

"What do you mean?"

The jonin put a hand to his hip, the other coming up to scratch his head. "How to explain… Well, it's like this. Arashi releases an incredible burst of chakra, but it only lasts long enough for him to do one action, right? So he kicks off the ground, and lets his momentum take care of the rest." Kakashi sighed. "Thing is, even if he's going too fast for anyone to see him coming, anyone could still tell where he's coming_ from_. He can only move in a straight line, after all, so it's easy enough to get out of the way."

Sasuke clenched his jaw. _You're in real trouble, aren't you?_ Glancing over at Kakashi, he saw that the jonin was just as nonchalant about this whole situation as he always was. _Sensei doesn't plan on helping out at all, does he? Damn it…_

_Ugh, that hurt…_ Arashi unstuck himself from the small indent he'd made on the stone wall. Nearly stumbling, he turned around and walked right into a closed fist lightly taping his chest. Eyes widening, he looked up and saw Jishono standing there, his green eyes glaring down at him.

**"One Dozen."**

Arashi sagged on Jishono's outstretched arm, eyes completely dulled. He took a few unsteady steps back until his back hit the earth wall. Leaning all his weight against it, the genin then took the time to cough up several wads of blood, his quivering hand reaching up to feel his chest.

Broken ribs. He couldn't concentrate enough to count how many, but they were there.

Jishono quirked an eyebrow at that, his glower not lessening one bit. "Huh. That didn't kill you. Right in the damn chest and everything." He grabbed Arashi by the shoulder, his other hand held out in preparation. "Let me fix that."

At that moment, Jishono hear the whistle of metal whooshing through air. Letting go of Arashi, he jumped back, barely avoiding the giant fuma shuriken that implanted itself on the spot where he stood just seconds before.

Arashi, finally starting to get ahold of his bearings, pushed himself off the wall. "What the…"

That's when Sasuke landed in a crouch next to him. "Hn. Of course you'd need me to bail you out of your first real fight."

Oh, if only he knew. "I had it," Arashi said, taking a step forward. He staggered, almost falling flat on his face, a hand coming up to hold his chest.

Sasuke was unimpressed to say the least. "Clearly," he said, standing up straight.

"That's two of them now." Kotewaru said, tapping his foot. "Well?"

Kakashi ignored him, his mind focused on something else. _Hmm... Might as well get something out of this now,_ he thought, reaching up to his headband.

Arashi could feel the damage fixing itself already. At least there were some benefits to this whole human sacrifice thing. "You don't owe me anything."

"Yeah, I don't," the Uchiha said, giving a wary eye to the now very grumpy Jishono a few meters away. "Get over yourself. I just want to pay that guy back for yesterday."

"Selfish bastard." Despite the pain, Arashi smirked. "Alright, let's pay him back, then. Gimmie a fireball, would you?"

Without hesitation, Sasuke went through the hand seals, taking a deep breath at the same time. **"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"**

The giant ball of fire was sent straight to Jishono, engulfing them from his vision. He only grunted and sidestepped out of the way as it flew past him. _Who the fuck do they think they're—_

It was then that his eyes caught Arashi. The genin was running just a step behind the fireball, using the flames to mask his movements, his hands already in a tiger sign.

_Shit!_ Jishono dodged again, almost throwing himself to the side, but the attack he expected never came. Instead, the Great Fireball exploded on an outcropping of stone, with Arashi running headfirst into the inferno. _The fuck?_

**"Flicker Burst!"**

It came from a completely different direction. His adrenaline fueled reflexes weren't enough to get him completely out of the way, but Jishono was fast enough on the uptake that Arashi's kick only clipped him on the arm. Still hurt like a bitch, but the full brunt of it would've probably fractured it.

Arashi landed far behind Jishono, his feet digging shallow trenches on the ground. "That was close," he said, catching his breath. That was three times now, not to mention the clone, as minute as that expense was. His chakra was starting to run low. _Four's my limit,_ he reminded himself. _I gotta be careful here._

Sasuke didn't allow Jishono to catch his own breath, however. As he advanced, the Uchiha peppered his opponent with a barrage of shuriken, all of which were dodged, but allowed him to get close.

"I thought you learned your fucking lesson," Jishono said, leaning back to avoid a sweeping backhand. He kept it up, dodging Sasuke's corkscrew kicks and spinning punches, sometimes by mere centimeters. _Pretty damn flashy for a ninja,_ he thought, ducking just as the Uchiha sent a jumping roundhouse to his head. _Enough of this shit._

Straightening up, Jishono stepped forward and punched out a right hook at Sasuke, who was just beginning to turn back around. Now it was the Uchiha's turn to duck, and capitalizing on Jishono's surprise, he twisted around the bodyguard until they were back-to-back.

Sasuke then pulled forward, his arms coming down and intersecting by the elbow under his hip. The act caused Jishono to get pulled by his arms and torso against Sasuke's back, his chest protruding and his upper body rendered immobile by the thin, almost invisible ninja wires originating from Sasuke's fingers.

"I learned a lot."

That's when Jishono noticed Arashi in the air, a kunai held in both hands, it's tip pointed right at his heart. His arms locked back, the bodyguard didn't have many options, and he was running out of time.

It was the first time in a long time that Jishono found himself to actually be scared for his life. Fortunately for him, it was that fear which lead to his salvation. The idea suddenly popping into his head from what could only be a combination of instinct and reflex, Jishono threw his legs up just as the kunai was set to impale him, kicking the knife out of Arashi's hands with one foot and kicking the jinchuuriki himself out of the way with the other.

That done, Jishono brought his legs back down, his heel hitting the back of Sasuke's knee, bringing the Uchiha to a kneel. Jishono then front flipped, bringing Sasuke along with him, and landed on his back, driving the genin hard into the ground.

It was enough to untighten the wires, which Jishono freed himself of as soon as he could. When he rolled up to his feet, he savagely stomped on Sasuke's elbow for good measure. "Trying to kill me, huh!?" he screamed, eyes wild. He dug his heel into the elbow again, harder this time. "Not today, motherfucker! Not today!"

Sasuke clamped down on the scream that threatened to rip through his throat. He couldn't be sure, but the numbing pain felt like a dislocation.

Jishono was about to stomp again, but Arashi managed to drive him back with a few well-thrown shuriken. "You alright, Sasuke?" the redhead asked, taking a defensive stance between his teammate and their shared opponent.

With a grunt, Sasuke used his other arm to pick himself up. "Not dead yet," he said. Biting back a moan of pain, he looked down at his injured elbow. It hurt just to have it, not to mention move it around. "I won't be pulling off techniques anytime soon, though."

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke tried to come up with a plan. "We have to turn this around somehow."

"I dunno man, he's kinda ripping us a new one here…"

The Uchiha was fairly certain that Jishono's trepidation from their earlier knife-to-heart tactic was beginning to fade. "Negative much?"

"Dude, you're pretty much crippled, I'm probably gonna pass out soon from internal bleeding or straight up exhaustion, and I'm starting to think that my one lucky shot at the start of all this just pissed him off more than anything else."

"… Well, when you put it like that—"

"I'm tired of listening to you assholes talk!" Jishono said, dashing over to them. From the look on his face, it was easy to tell his practically nonexistent patience had finally run thin. Both of his hands were balled up and set to unleash his wrath. "Die already!"

Thinking fast, Arahshi pushed Sasuke and himself out of the way. They both began their descent onto the ground, watching as Jishono's fists swung forward.

Some moments in life are unexplainable. What occurred at that particular moment could've happened because of a variety of things, such as Jishono's mind-numbing rage, or the velocity of the wind on that day, or something running around in the background that caught a part of his attention.

Whatever the case, what happened next was the epitome of randomness. No one could've seen it coming, especially in this specific situation, with these specific people, in this specific place.

**"Quakin—"**

He tripped.

Unfortunately for all three of them, Jishono's attack was still underway. As a result, his knuckles ended up landing on the already destabilized earth.

In that one, brief instant, Arashi, Sasuke, and Jishono locked gazes.

"Uh—"

"That's—"

"… Well, _shit_."

The area crumbled, the force of the impact cracking and upending the ground which had already been holding onto itself by the skin of its teeth. With a great boom, the surrounding earth fell, caving into itself and taking all three boys fighting on it along for the ride.

Kakashi and Kotewaru watched it all right along with whatever townspeople had stayed around, all of them in shocked silence.

"Didn't expect things to escalate so much," Kakashi said, adjusting his headband back over his left eye. Unfortunately, as interesting as Jishono's techniques were, they didn't seem to use hand seals. Too bad. "I guess they all forgot that this was a mining town."

Kotewaru looked down at the giant hole that had been suddenly excavated in the middle of his town. "Didn't you say you'd step in if things got too out of hand?" he asked, nearly seething.

"I was about to," Kakashi said, bringing up his hands in defense, "but it looks like I got beat to it."

"You got beat to it?" the mayor asked. Frowning, he noticed that there was something missing. "Wait, wasn't someone standing right there?"

* * *

The first thing Arashi did was cough his lungs out. _As if it didn't suck enough with the blood, _he thought, spitting out a wad of slushy mud, _now I just swallowed a bunch of dirt. _Opening his eyes, the redhead found that he couldn't see a thing. He was shrouded in complete and utter darkness. "O-Oi, Sasuke? You there?" he asked, getting to his feet.

"Yeah, right here," Arashi heard his teammate say from somewhere to his left.

"You alright?"

"By some miracle. You?"

"Lemme see…" Arashi patted himself down. "Nothing broken." As he bent down to check his feet, a sting from his ribs made him flinch. "Ugh, nothing new, at least." He straightened up and raised an arm in Sasuke's direction, only to be met with nothing. "I can't see anything."

"Our eyes need time to adjust. We were just in broad daylight a few seconds ago."

"Where the hell are we anyway?"

"My suspicion is that we are in a mine tunnel."

"…"

"…"

"Sasuke, you just sounded a lot girlier than usual."

"That wasn't me."

"… Dumbass."

"Oh, okay, that makes more sense. What's up, Hinata?"

"Several layers of rock."

"Wait, wait." There was some shuffling, and the clip of a bag, and then there was light. "That's better," Sasuke said holding up a lit match.

Now they could all see that Hinata's suspicion was right. Around them was rock, rock, and more rock, all held up by wooden beams. It was a pretty tight fit, since the already narrow tunnel was almost filled to the brim with debris from the cave in. Curiously, Team Seven stood in the center of what looked to be a sphere carved out of the stone surrounding them. Even the fallen chunks that should've crushed them to death weren't in the sphere, like some kind of force field had kept everything out as it fell.

"Woah." Arashi looked around them, noting the smoothness of the sphere they were in. "You totally saved our asses, didn't you, Hinata? With whatever this was?"

"That's correct."

"So cool. Even cooler than how you can light a match with one hand, Sasuke."

"Hn, it's called dexterity, Arashi. Maybe you should look into it, what with the whole being a ninja thing."

Arashi snickered, then sighed. He looked over at Hinata, who, despite everything, still had that same damnable non-expression on her face as always. "You're in so much trouble, you know that, right?" he asked.

"Insubordination isn't going to look good on my record," Hinata said, getting a scoff out of both her teammates. "However, I suspect that having all my teammates die on my first C-rank mission wouldn't have looked any better."

Even as he felt like lying down on the ground right there and sleeping off the weariness wrecking his body, Arashi grinned. "Wow. I thought you were completely heartless."

"Also, having to wait until the next genin exams to get new teammates would've irrevocably delayed my career aspirations."

"Ah… You know what? I'll take what I can get. Thanks, Hinata."

"Let's focus," Sasuke said, getting the attention of his fellow genin. "Clearly, we can't go back the way we came, so we need to find another way out of here."

Hinata activated her byakugan. Immediately, her head swiveled to a small cluster of rocks off to the side. "There's a small opening over there that leads to another tunnel. We might be able to blow our way through."

"Good." Sasuke handed his matchstick to Arashi, his hand then going to his leg pack and pulling out an explosive tag. He stuck it to one of the rocks in the pile and walked as far back as he could. "We need to run through as soon as it explodes or else we'll just get caved in even worse, alright? Stand back," he said, holding up the release seal which, thankfully, only required the one hand.

"Don't need to tell us twice," Arashi said, he and Hinata backing up as well. Just before Sasuke could activate the tag, the redhead cocked his head. "So, just to clarify, Jishono's totally dead, right? I mean, big earthquake explosion, tons of rocks falling all over him, no Hinata. An open and shut case."

As soon as Arashi was finished, a hand sprouted from the ground, right between the genin and the rocks they were about to blow up. The hand began pulling itself out, until Jishono's distinctive hair began to reveal itself.

The shock was enough to get Sasuke to act rather impulsively. **"RELEASE!"**

The good part was that the explosion blew a hole just big enough for them to fit through. The bad part was that the force of it also blew the matchstick out of Arashi's hand, and what little light they had was soon gone.

So there they were, bathed in complete darkness, with a surely-pissed-the-hell-off juggernaut somewhere in their immediate vicinity.

Luckly, just as Arashi and even Sasuke were beginning to panic, Hinata saved the day once again. She grabbed them both by the hand and _ran_, dragging her teammates into the pitch black abyss.

"Calm down," Hinata said, pulling the boys along a path neither of them could see. They ran through what felt like several twists, turns, and slopes that rose and fell, the sound made by their shoes changing from a muffled clap against stone to a clear bang against hollow wood. "My byakugan allows me to see even in this darkness."

That was reassuring, but whatever relief was to be found in that situation quickly left when they all heard the rumbling going on not too far behind them. Somehow, even now, Jishono was _following them_.

Arashi almost stumbled. He could feel his breathing getting shorter and more erratic by the second. His chest was beyond screaming at him at this point. "We're so dead. We're so freaking dead, man."

"Shut up," he heard Sasuke growl. "This is your fault!"

"How's it _my_ fault!?"

"You mean apart from how you're the reason we're even in this mess!?"

"I didn't ask you guys to do anything! Take some damn responsibility for yourself!"

"Then what about just a second ago!? 'Hm, I wonder if he's dead!' You don't say that right after a big fight! What the hell did you think was gonna happen, genius!?"

"He literally popped out of the fucking floor! How was I supposed to know he could do that!?"

"I have to ask you both to be quiet," Hinata said. For the first time since they'd known her, it sounded like she was short of breath. "It's hard enough to lead you two through this maze without having you bicker like children."

Just then, Arashi felt a change. It was slow, barely noticeable, really, but he was starting to _see_ things. "I think we're almost out!"

He was right. it didn't take very long for Team Seven to see the exit, all three of them now sprinting on their own power. The light was almost blinding, but Arashi didn't care, he was just glad he could get blinded in the first place after who knew how long of running around in the dark.

When they finally got out, the genin found themselves standing on a sturdy, wooden bridge spanning across the inside of a ravine, its ends connecting the cave entrance they'd just left with another. Both above and below them were more bridges, some intersecting with each other.

"Damn, these people take mining seriously," Arashi said, glancing over the edge of the bridge. He couldn't see the bottom of the ravine, and it wasn't like they were that close to the surface either if all the bridges on top of them meant anything. At least the miners were smart enough to build handholds too.

There was more rumbling coming from the cave they'd just left. The sound was getting closer. "There's no point in running away now," Sasuke said, standing to face the coming enemy. "He'd catch up to us if we tried. At least now we can all see what we're doing." He looked to Hinata. "Arashi and I don't have much left in us, so we're depending on you here."

She nodded, getting into her picture-perfect Gentle Fist stance. "Understood."

"That doesn't mean I'll just let you do everything, though," Arashi said, his hands drifting over his shuriken pack. He then hunched over and coughed up some blood. "Ugh… Yeah, count on me."

Suddenly, the cave entrance they were all looking towards practically exploded, sending several chunks of rock flying straight at them and completely demolishing the foundation of the bridge they stood on to boot. It began to fall, the wooden boards holding it together either shattered or unhinged, and the genin jumped off soon enough.

Sasuke landed and clung to the side of the cliff with chakra, while Arashi managed to fall on a bridge not too far down.

Hinata was already in the thick of it, Jishono right on her heels as they dashed and leaped all over the length of the ravine. Every punch and kick the bodyguard threw destroyed something, whether that be a support beam from one of the bridges or a small crater from the stone cliff. Hinata seemed content to be on the defensive for now, not throwing a single strike and instead merely jumping away from her current position before it got obliterated by an attack moments later.

"Stay still you fucking pussy!" Jishono screamed, pulling his arm out of a hole he'd made on the wooden surface of a bridge and bounding after Hinata, who had just landed on another bridge a few meters below.

They kept bouncing back and forth, like one pinball chasing after another, blurring in and out so fast that even Arashi was having trouble following the two. Although, that might've been more because he was having trouble just staying on his feet, not to mention the constant rain of debris they were leaving in their wake.

Sasuke landed next to him then, his face urgent. "I have a plan," he said.

"What is it?" Arashi asked, sighing involuntarily. His shoulders were slumped, and his legs were barely keeping themselves from buckling.

Sasuke was better off, but not by a whole lot. Sweat and grime covered his entire body just as much as Arashi's, and the pained frown permanently etched into his brow gave away how he was really feeling about that elbow of his. Regardless, the thought of having a plan lifted both their spirits. "We blow him up."

"…. How dangerous is it?"

"Very."

"…. Okay, let's do it."

After what felt like a marathon, Jishono was beginning to get tired. Seeing the Hyuuga land on yet another bridge, the bodyguard decided enough was enough. So, abandoning his current strategy of "destroy everything," he landed right in front of her and, just as she was set to jump away again, reached out to grab a fistful of her hair.

Hinata's retaliation was swift and brutal. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Jishono's entire arm became numb. His hold on her hair loosened, his arm falling to sway by his side.

Quick as a whip, Hinata thrust a palm strike right at his heart. His temporarily lost arm forgotten, Jishono pivoted around Hinata's attack, then jabbed her in the face with the hand he still had control over.

She stumbled back, but Jishono wasn't done. "I've got you now, bitch," he said, stepping forward and grabbing her by the wrist. He twisted it, getting the Hyuuga to turn by reflex, and then slammed his foot into her knee.

Jishono let go of the Hyuuga's wrist, letting her drop to the floor. He raised an eyebrow at her when she immediately got on her belly and tried to push herself back up despite the fact that one of her legs was currently out of order. Not so much as a whimper came out of her lips.

Shaking his head, Jishono stood over her and crouched, a hand raised above his head. "Shoulda kept running. **One Dozen!**"

He hammered his fist into her back, sending her through the wooden boards. There was nothing under the bridge for her to fall onto, only the darkness of the seemingly endless abyss below. That would've been her fate, if not for Sasuke catching her midair.

Her only reaction was to turn her head in the general direction of the back of Sasuke's head. "Sasuke… san…"

Holding the Hyuuga over his shoulder, Sasuke didn't know how to react to her broken state. "Hinata…" he mumbled, frowning to himself. A few seconds earlier, and he might've stopped this from happening. "Damn…"

"YOU FUCKS JUST DON'T STOP!"

Landing on one of the lower bridges, Arashi just a few meters away, Sasuke went over and handed the Hyuuga to his redheaded teammate. "Hold onto her," the Uchiha said, turning around in wait.

"H-Hinata?" Arashi slung one of her arms over his shoulder, letting her lean on him, his eyes wide. "Shit, I'm sorry, I'm—"

"Nothing fatal," Hinata said, her voice barely audible.

"That's not—"

"Shut up!" Sasuke cut in, watching Jishono get closer and closer. "Remember, we have to get him into position."

"Y-Yeah, right…"

Jishono crashed onto the other end of the bridge, the vibrations reaching Team Seven on the other side. "You're all done, you hear me!?" he screamed, walking forward. "No more fucking tricks, no more fucking last-minute saves, nothing!"

The closer he got, the harder Sasuke had to keep himself from acting. The guy was basically saving them all the effort and just walking into it. His hand was just itching to go up, his eyes following every step Jishono took, but even the most minute movement could tip their opponent off.

Right before he was halfway across the bridge, Jishono noticed the way none of the ninja in front of him reacted to anything he did. "What? What is it?" he said, seething.

_Just a few more steps,_ Sasuke thought.

Arashi coughed from his place next to the Uchiha. "Uh, nothing. Nothing's wrong."

"You're all just standing there."

"We're just… paralyzed with fear. Or something."

"… This is a fucking trap, isn't it?"

"Um… no?"

"You ninja sons of bitches—"

Jishono was all set to jump at them, but Sasuke spoke up. "Kotewaru-san saved you. That's what you said, right?"

That got Jishono to pause. "What's it to you?"

"I just think it's funny. I mean, look at you now," Sasuke said, holding out his arm and pointing at Jishono. "Following him around all the time, doing everything he tells you to. You don't even get paid, do you?" The lack of response told the Uchiha that he hit the nail on the head. "He calls you a bodyguard, but let's be honest. You're just a slave."

"Why you…" Jishono took a step forward.

"You say you owe him your life, but it looks to me like all he did was make it even worse!"

"You don't understand anyth—" He took another step.

Perfect.

Sasuke formed his held out hand into a snake seal. **"Release!"**

The cluster of explosive tags under the bridge exploded all at once, right under Jishono's feet. The blast and its ensuing smoke enshrouded the entirety of the bridge, consuming even Team Seven, who had positioned themselves at the very edge of it for that very reason. All three genin were falling into the ravine seconds later, the broken pieces of the bridge falling right along with them, hurt but alive.

Hinata held in his arms, Arashi opened his eyes. _Did we get him?_ He looked up at the plume of smoke above his falling form, watching for any sign of the as of yet almost invulnerable enemy they'd been fighting. To his horror, he spotted Jishono up there, clinging to the edge of the cave opening the bridge they just blew up led to, beginning to pull himself up with his functioning arm.

Every second Arashi spent falling, the sight got further and further away. _He's… He's too much,_ he thought, feeling the beginnings of unconsciousness. _We never had a chance, did we? Nothing hurts him. Even all three of us together…_

His eyes widened. The arm. The arm that still didn't work. He looked down at Hinata. _This is gonna suck._

"Hinata!" he screamed, grabbing her by the hand.

She looked at him, her eyes already activated. He nodded, flashing through the one necessary seal and rearing his arm back. "End it! **Flicker… Burst!**"

He threw her up with everything he had and passed out soon after, completely spent.

Hinata flew up like an arrow, past all the falling debris and then through the thinning smoke left over from the explosion, slowing in her ascent with every centimeter she climbed. Finally, she reached Jishono, who had just gotten back on his feet.

Still in the air, Hinata saw that she was close enough. She spread out her arms, her body turned almost sideways. "You are within the range of my divination!"

Jishono gaped, watching the Hyuuga hang in the air right in front of his face in what felt like slow motion. "Shi—"

**"Two palms!"**

The hits crashed into him before he could react. They were swiftly followed by more.

**"Four palms!"**

Hinata set foot on the ground, landing on her one working leg.

**"Eight palms!"**

Her attacks ramped up with intensity with every one she gave, getting faster and faster.

**"Sixteen palms!"**

Her hands were an incomprehensible blur now, smacking over and over again all across Jishono's body.

**"Thirty-two palms!"**

Finally, Hinata crouched on her leg and jumped forward. **"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"**

The both of them fell at the same time, landing side by side.

Jishono wanted to stand up and kill her. Choke her and watch the life bleed out of her lifeless eyes. But he couldn't. He couldn't will his body to do anything.

"I've blocked sixty-four of the tenketsu in your system," he heard Hinata say next to him. He was at least able to turn his head and send her a chilling glare. It would've worked on anyone else. "Your chakra flow has ceased."

"The fuck… does that even mean?"

"It means you're finished," Hinata said, managing to get on her foot. She leaned heavily on the cave wall, and looked down over the edge.

Not too far below, Sasuke struggled to hold onto an unconscious Arashi as he walked up the side of the cliff towards her. The two of them were in a horrible state, with multiple burn marks, broken bones, and dirt and soot practically caking the entirety of their bodies.

She wasn't all that better off. Placing any sort of weight on her bad knee wasn't even worth considering, and she could almost hear her back throbbing. Everything hurt, but she was alive, and so was everyone else.

Eventually, Sasuke reached them, walking over to Jishono. "He's down?" Sasuke asked, placing Arashi on the ground.

Hinata nodded. "For now."

"What're you gonna do with me, then?" Jishono asked. It was clear that he was straining to move. Unsuccessfully, sure, but after everything else he'd proven himself capable of, it still set Sasuke and Hinata on edge. "Kill me?"

Sasuke crouched, taking out a kunai. "We probably should." He sighed, twirling the knife in his fingers. "Not our choice though."

* * *

_**"****_Hmph. _You're still alive."**_

_**"****_Better _keep it that way…"**_

_**"… ****_Frea_k of nature…"**_

* * *

When Arashi woke up, he already knew plenty. Just by the ceiling that greeted his eyes, he could tell this wasn't the guest room so graciously loaned to him by Kotewaru. He knew it was daytime from the amount of light. Most importantly, he knew he wasn't dead, so something must've gone right.

"Hn. About time."

From hearing that, he knew his asshole teammate was in the room.

"What happened?" Arashi asked, sitting up on the futon he was on and rubbing his eyes.

The room they were in was pretty small, and it didn't have much going for it. There were three more futons spread throughout the floor, a window on one wall, and that was pretty much it.

"Basically what you'd expect," Sasuke said. He sat leaning against the wall right next to his teammate, looking much better than the last time Arashi saw him. The elbow had probably been a bitch to pop back in, though. "The moment we came back up, the people went after Kotewaru. His guards couldn't do anything against their numbers, and without Jishono, I guess they figured they could pull it off. He's in jail. Dunno what they'll do with him."

"Huh." Arashi threw his arms up and yawned. "Man, I'm starving. How long was I out?"

"Approximately twenty-two hours."

The redhead let out a startled yelp, almost banging his head against the wall. He turned, finding Hinata sitting on a chair on his other side. She also looked better, though the fact that she was on a chair and not all prissy in her usual seiza spoke a lot about her injuries.

Sighing, Arashi put a hand on his chest. "Gimmie a heart attack, why don'tcha?"

"That can be arranged."

It gave Arashi the chills to know that she might've been speaking seriously. "Yeah… So what about Jishono?"

Sasuke shrugged, turning his head to look out the window. "I don't know. Kakashi put us on house arrest as soon as he saw us." His eyes narrowed. "They took him away, though. I told them to chain him up as well as humanly possible if they decided not to kill him."

"House arrest." The jinchuuriki wasn't really surprised, after what they pulled. "I guess we're in pretty deep shit then."

"Yep."

All three genin turned to see Kakashi leaning on the now open doorway, his usual book held up to his eye. "You guys are in so much trouble."

Arashi stared, watching as his sensei flipped a page. "I didn't even hear the door open. How'd you do _that_?"

"That's besides the point," Kakashi said. The jonin took a moment away from his book to look at each of his students. "The point is that you screwed up big time. I could see Arashi going off and ruining his credibility, but the rest of you? What were you thinking?"

The three of them sat silently. That was the first time Kakashi had taken any kind of authoritative tone with any of them since they tried getting him off his perch in front of the Memorial Stone back home.

"You're all lucky that this didn't result in failure," Kakashi continued, seeing as they weren't about to say anything. "No physical harm was dealt to Yuza-san, so he's technically safe, even in a cell. As for our mission ending after Seigo's execution, well…" At that moment, it was like there was a twinkle in the jonin's eye. "That's a pretty vague way of wording it. It could mean that we're done after Seigo's dead, but it could also mean that we're done after the event itself. So, speaking from a purely technical level, we completed our mission."

Before anyone could rejoice, the twinkle in Kakashi's eye left as soon as it came. "That doesn't mean anything, though. Sasuke, what possessed you to jump in, hm?"

Arashi, not wanting anyone else taking the fall for his actions, opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, Sasuke raised his head and met his sensei's eyes.

"It was either that or let the idiot get killed," the Uchiha said. His eyes narrowed. "Didn't look like _you_ were stepping in anytime soon."

Kakashi didn't react in any way other than setting his stare on Hinata. "What about you?"

The girl closed her eyes and left them close, for once letting go of her strict posture and just laying back on her chair. "We _are_ a team, are we not?"

Nodding, the jonin shoved his book back in front of his face. "I can see that. Well, either way, you should all be ashamed of yourselves. Those who break the rules are trash."

The genin all looked down. They were expecting it, but it was still harsh to hear.

"But… Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

As one, Arashi, Sasuke, and Hinata looked up to see Kakashi's retreating back. "Don't get me wrong, you're all getting it when we get back," their sensei said, not turning back to face them. "Still, you stuck by each other, so I guess I can be proud of that, at least." Walking out into the hallway, Kakashi's fading voice carried into their room. "We're leaving in a bit, so get ready, and be sure to thank Seigo-san for his hospitality."

Arashi was left sitting there, not really knowing what to think. Finally, a smile spread across his face. "You know, Kakashi-sensei's actually pretty cool, huh?"

He didn't have to look at either of his teammates to know that they agreed.

* * *

Team Seven was all set to leave. The three genin and their sensei stood under Kōunmura's front gate, looking back at the town one last time.

There was no crowd there to say their goodbyes. The residents had certainly been thankful, but with all the changes going on, there was too much work to be done for all of them to take a break and say goodbye to some random ninja team they'd just met a couple of days ago. Rebuilding the damage in the mines was more important, as was resolving the issue of who would fill the empty hole in power with Kotewaru locked behind bars.

Seigo had been the only one to personally thank them all, right before they left his house. Some other townspeople had nodded respectfully as they walked past too. That was it, really.

Arashi was fine with that. It felt more appropriate than some grand farewell. After all, they weren't heroes.

Just as he was about to turn around, a voice called out.

"Ninja-san!"

His smile blossoming, Arashi watched Shoki sprint up to him, the little boy coming to a stop in front of the genin. "Kid, my name's Arashi, not 'Ninja-san.'"

Shoki puffed his cheeks. "Yeah, well my name's Shoki, not 'Kid!'"

"Whatever you say."

"Anyway, I just wanted to—"

Arashi bonked him lightly on the head. "No need to thank me," he said. He then gave the kid a thumbs up. "I did it for myself as much as for you, y'know, so it evens out, I think."

Shoki didn't exactly appreciate being interrupted. Crossing his arms, the boy turned his head away. "Then I wasn't gonna thank you anyway! Yeah, if you're so selfish, I guess I don't need to!"

Sasuke scoffed from behind his redheaded teammate. "You hear that, Arashi? Stop trying to be cool."

The jinchuuriki rolled his eyes, turning around and walking off as the rest of his team did the same. "Look who's talking. Is it casual to prop yourself up against every wall you see, duckbutt?"

"It does seem like a very uncomfortable position to be in as often as you are, Sasuke-san."

"My, is that Hinata cracking wise I hear? Looks like you two boys are slowly corrupting her."

"Hn. The day Hinata cracks a joke is the day Arashi starts being good at it."

"Arashi-san!"

The redhead didn't stop walking, but he did turn his head just enough to see Shoki waving at him in the distance.

Shoki jumped up and down. "I'll see you later… Hero!"

"What did I tell you, kid!? I'm a damn ninja! Get it right!" Despite his words, Arashi waved back. _Yeah…_

_I'll definitely see you later._

* * *

Jishono didn't appreciate the fact that he was locked up. He didn't appreciate that he was practically glued to the wall either, his limbs chained up in a way that he couldn't move. He _especially_ didn't appreciate the goddamn dripping he kept hearing from somewhere in his cell.

So not only did he get beat by a bunch of annoying kids, but he got put in the most annoying place they had? Those bastards sure were vindictive.

"You're in quite the predicament."

Looking up, Jishono saw a man in front of his cell. He wore wearing a brown robe that completely covered every part of him except his head. The most prominent feature of his were the white bindings wrapping strangely around the top of his face, covering his eyes and ears. His black hair hung almost wildly, held up by—

Jishono flexed every muscle in his body, struggling as hard as he possibly could to get out of his chains and maul the guy before him. He could barely twitch with the way he was bound to the wall, though, and none of his abilities could really help without some momentum. "What the fuck do you want?" he snarled, spittle flying out of his mouth.

"Not just vibration, but a potty mouth too, huh?" The man sounded amused more than anything. He leaned an arm against the metal bars of the jail cell, smirking over at the prisoner within. "I don't particularly want anything, really. How about you? Want me to let you out?"

Not convinced, Jishono barred his teeth. "If there's anything I've learned about you ninja assholes, it's that there's always a catch. So fuck off."

If anything, that just made the man's smirk widen. "No catch. Promise."

"Suck a big one."

"Jishono?" The voice was weak, and came from the cell next to his. "Is… Is someone there? Jishono, m-make them get us out of here! We're getting back at those damn commoners, and then at those backstabbing ninja! Jishono! We—"

"Man, shut up, will ya?" the man said, silencing Kotewaru immediately. Nothing more was said from the former mayor. "As I was saying…" He turned back to Jishono, and even if his eyes were hidden behind those bindings of his, the spiky-haired prisoner could practically feel himself being examined.

It didn't feel good at all. "I don't trust anything you have to say, so go fuck with someone else," Jishono said.

The man sighed. "Look, all I wanna do is help you out. Serious." Smiling, he grabbed the cell's door by the handle. "I'll get you out of here, and if you want, you can come with me."

"And where the hell would you take me?"

"Somewhere for unusual people like us," the man said. "A… haven. You'll love it." Gripping the handle tightly, the man pulled, breaking the lock and swinging the door open. "Oops."

Jishono watched the man get closer. "Why are you really doing this? Tell me!"

"I told you already. No real reason." Grabbing the chains, the man grinned. He was close enough now that Jishono could clearly see the crossed out leaf symbol on the man's headband. "But… I guess this _does_ mean that you owe me, huh?"

* * *

**AN:**

**Woot! Finally done with this one. Goddamn, I've been waiting to write this chapter since the inception of the story, so it's great to reach this point.**

**As a sidenote, anyone who tells you that writing fight scenes isn't fun is a damn liar. It's fun as hell. **

**Something I wanted to show here was Team Seven's overall strength as ninja by pinning them against someone they couldn't really hold back against. This is their limit as things stand, and they know this is their limit, so they'll definitely be working to improve in the future.**

**I could give you stats and stuff, I guess, but… Needless to say, I think numerical stats in Naruto are nonsensical to say the least. If I had to say as an official source how strong these characters are, well…**

**Sasuke could probably outsmart Arashi, Arashi could probably shrug off Hinata's Gentle Fist, and Hinata could probably shut Sasuke down pretty handily. Jishono can definitely wreck any of them one-on-one, and Kakashi can definitely wreck Jishono, obviously. That's as detailed as I think is intelligent to get from a storytelling standpoint.**

**Review and tell me what you think. Or don't. I guess you can always just be **_**that**_** guy/gal. **

**Next time, Hinata plays hide-and-seek, Sasuke finds a therapist, and Arashi annoys Kakashi just as the poor guy thinks he's off the hook.**


	9. Fallen Leaves, Naked Trees

How much would it even cost to buy the rights to Naruto? I can save up some cash, maybe.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Fallen Leaves, Naked Trees**

* * *

Three days. They'd been gone for three days, and yet, when Arashi first caught sight of the Leaf Village's gargantuan gates, he couldn't help but sprint towards them, leaving the rest of his team in the dust.

Sasuke watched the redheaded ninja run ahead, shaking his head. "It's like yesterday didn't even happen for him," he said, bringing a hand up to his injured elbow. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as the day before, but the dull pain was annoying. Not to mention all the smaller bruises and burns that still dotted the rest of his body.

Hinata was better off, but she was limping quite conspicuously. Kakashi's knowledge of healing techniques only went so far, after all.

But Arashi? There wasn't a mark on him, inside or out. Even the ribs he could've sworn were at least cracked seemed to have been set back in place. Sasuke knew for a fact that Arashi had gotten the worst beating out of all of them, and his teammate jumping back to 100% after one night when everyone else was still at the very least sore was suspicious as hell.

"How's he doing so well already?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi didn't allow any of his students to distract him from the literary masterpiece in his hands. "Who knows? Maybe he's secretly immortal or something," the jonin said. Yawning, he flipped a page. "What do you think, Hinata? Immortal Arashi theory?"

"It would certainly explain his ability to survive his own stupidity."

"Ah, you see? That's why you're my favorite."

Waving at them from the gates and cheerfully paying no heed to any of the other people coming in and out of the village, Arashi cupped a hand in front of his mouth. "Hurry up!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke drawled, walking through the gate along with the rest of his team. Kakashi made a beeline to turn their mission in to the two chunin sitting by, while his students converged off to the side. "It really hasn't been that long, you know. Calm down."

"You're such a buzzkill, Sasuke."

Kakashi came back, tossing a roll of bills at each of them. "Try not to spend it all in one place," he said, beginning to walk off further into the village. Before he got too far, the jonin turned his head back. "You've got a day off, but… Well, get ready for tomorrow."

It was anything but comforting to think of what that meant.

Their sensei now gone, Arashi looked at his teammates, holding up his newly earned money. "We completed our first C-rank, then!"

Sasuke scoffed. "No thanks to you."

"Whatever!" Arashi grinned, throwing the ryo in the air and catching it again. "I think we should celebrate, right, Hinata?" He glanced over at the Hyuuga.

She was already walking off.

Dumbfounded, the jinchuuriki raised a hand towards her direction. "Uh…"

"I don't think she's the celebrating type," Sasuke said, sounding somewhat amused despite his stern expression.

"Could've at least said bye, I mean, damn," Arashi muttered under his breath. Shaking it off, the redhead looked over at his remaining teammate. "How about it? Lunch on me?"

The Uchiha shook his head. "Sorry, but I really do have something important I want to look into," he said, beginning to head out. "Next time, though."

Arashi watched him go, his face going from merry to deadpan. "Man, you guys suck." Though, now that he thought about it, he did have something he'd been thinking about doing once they got back. Sighing, Arashi scratched his head. "So much for a day off…"

* * *

Before she'd left for her mission, Hinata's father had given her two orders. The first one was to, above all else, make sure to come back unharmed. The second one was to immediately report to him upon her return.

Limping through the Hyuuga Clan compound in full view of all the branch family servants, Hinata was on her way to make sure that at least one of those orders was followed to the letter. She couldn't put all that much weight on her left leg, and her back still stung quite a lot, but Kakashi had been able to fix her up just fine with what limited healing techniques he knew.

At least it wasn't any worse. If that last hammer blow had been aimed at her spine… Well, it was lucky that it wasn't.

"H-Hinata-sama!"

Turning despite the sharp pain that shot up her back, Hinata saw one of the branch family members she was actually familiar with.

Hair just barely reaching past his earlobes, Ko had been her sister's caretaker for several years. He was tasked with protecting Hanabi at all costs, even his life, and was bound to watch over her at all times….

… Except, Hanabi wasn't anywhere nearby. A quick flash of Hinata's byakugan confirmed it.

"Where is my sister?" Hinata asked, fixing the servant with eyes that she very well knew made others uncomfortable.

Regardless, Ko looked distressed enough that it probably didn't make much of a difference. His clothes were crumpled and a little sweaty, his eyes were dilated, and his hair was completely unkempt, filled with dirt and twigs.

Not that Hinata cared about any of that. She held her hands up in a seal that made all Hyuuga in the vicinity flinch. "You have ten seconds to tell me where my sister is."

Ko gulped, his hands coming together in a praying gesture. "Hinata-sama, please—"

"Eight seconds."

"Hanabi-sama has gone missing!"

That stopped Hinata's mental countdown. "She's—" The heiress stopped herself. Putting her arms back down, Hinata limped around Ko and began heading back from where she came. "Come."

Wordlessly, the caretaker followed after her, slowing his pace to match hers. "Hinata-sama, we must—"

"How long has it been since you lost her?" Hinata asked, cutting through the gardens on a bee-line towards the compound's exit. Anyone on her path made way the moment they got a good look at who was heading their way.

"Uh—"

"How long?"

"About an hour."

"She could be anywhere, then. Even with our byakugan, we might not find her soon enough." She was silent for a bit, thinking. When they made it out of the compound and out into the main street, Hinata took a left. "Unfortunately, we will require assistance."

"Assistance?"

Hinata kept walking, and even with her limp, she set a pace that Ko was having trouble keeping up with. "Know this. The only reason you haven't received your punishment yet is because Hanabi-chan takes precedence."

The mention of his punishment sent a shiver up Ko's spine. The way she followed it with the word "yet" didn't help.

* * *

Sasuke stood in front of a flower shop, looking up at the sign with dread.

_Yamanaka Flowers._

For someone who prided himself in being in a constant state of irritation at everything around him, it was a new experience for him to be irritated at himself. Unfortunately, his latest experience had shown him something he'd have rather never discovered. Clearly, no amount of stress was going to unlock his eye powers. That meant that he either couldn't, or that he already had before.

It hadn't taken much longer to realize that he knew someone who could help him out. Just the thought of it made him want to hurl.

There was no helping it. Out of all his peers, Ino Yamanaka was the only one with any expertise in the psychological. Her clan's special techniques would come in handy too. So he would bear through this, then bash his head against a wall later.

_It's probably worth it. It's probably worth it. It's probably worth it. _The mantra ingrained into his brain, Sasuke walked into the building.

The moment he went inside, he got assaulted by a range of sweet smells and colors. It was like walking into a rainbow, with flowers plastering the walls and floors and even the ceiling

Hearing the chime that came with the doors opening, Ino smiled from her place behind the counter. "Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers! How may I—"

Her smiling face met Sasuke's harrowed one.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" Ino's smile widened into a terrifyingly predatory leer. She leaned on the counter, her chin held up by her hands. "Fancy seeing you here. What can I do for _you_?"

With her long, blonde hair all done up in that ponytail of hers and her dainty features, Ino was often considered the cutest girl back in the academy. That wasn't the case here. Here, she looked terrifying. It took every ounce of Sasuke's being to not walk backwards out of the shop. Instead, and with the strength of a hundred men, he walked forward until he stood in front of her on the other side of the counter. "Ino…" he said through clenched teeth, eyes closed shut.

"Yeeees?"

"I… need… your… help."

There was a long moment of silence.

"I have some concessions."

….. Well, he wasn't expecting that. His lips thinning, Sasuke couldn't help but actually respect her a bit. But he really didn't want to do whatever she wanted him to do.

"I–"

"Take it or leave it."

_Fine, I don't need this._ Sasuke turned around, but just as he began to take his first step out, he froze. All his bruises and sore spots came alive at once, and, with a grimace, he slowly turned back to the positively smug Ino. _I hate my life._

"What do you want?"

Ino cocked her head. "First, I want you to start calling me Ino-chan."

"No."

Shrugging, Ino reached under the counter and grabbed a bundle of roses. She put them up against her nose and gave them a nice, long sniff. "I guess you can walk out then."

Sasuke clicked his tongue. "Ugh, fine."

"Fine…."

"… Ino-chan." It felt like there was something stuck in his throat. "What else?"

"Hmmm…. Take me out on a date."

"Nnnogrrrragh…"

"Bring me on a date or I'm not helping you."

"Ino—"

"Ino-_chan_."

Sasuke slammed his hands on the counter, glaring straight at the girl. "Fine! Is that it!?"

Completely unperturbed, Ino leaned forward, her face coming within centimeters of her ex-classmate. "Yep," she brought her hand up, holding it out to him. "Looks like we have a deal, Sasuke-kun."

With no other choice, Sasuke shook her hand, grumbling all the way.

"So," Ino said, winking at him, "what did you need help with?"

* * *

"Right in the middle of town?"

"Yup."

"And you just got away with it?"

"Yup."

"Damn."

Kakashi was, for the first time in days, relaxing. Sitting back and having a drink with some good company was always appreciated, especially after the shit storm his latest mission had turned out to be.

Truth be told, Asuma Sarutobi should've probably been with his own genin team right about then instead of in a bar, but Kakashi wasn't judging.

"We're just lucky they didn't realize they could charge us for collateral damage," Kakashi said, getting a chuckle out of the jonin to his left.

"Your team sounds like… Well, they're _somethin'_," Asuma said. He took a sip from his cup, then sighed. "To be honest, I wouldn't mind 'em that much. Sounds like they get up to a lot. Mine just sit around and don't do much of anythin', really."

Kakashi hummed, imagining what it would be like to have students like that. "We should trade." Glancing sideways at his colleague, the silver-haired man shook his head. "Alright, I've gotta ask, what's with the getup?"

While Kakashi was the last person who could comment on other people's fashion sense, Asuma's choice in clothing was questionable to say the least. The man wore a long, bulky trench coat over his regular jonin attire, with sunglasses covering the top half of his face and his headband done bandana-style.

"Hey, I'm technically skippin' out on my job right now," Asuma said, pushing up his sunglasses. "My kids don't really care all that much, but someone might come 'round and get me in trouble."

"There are so many plans you could come up with that are better than this."

"… I also wanted a reason to wear this cool coat I got, okay?" The disguised jonin threw his head back and gulped down the rest of his drink. Gasping in satisfaction, he then put a finger up, getting the bartender's attention. "Oi, give me another one, would ya?"

From his peripheral vision, Kakashi saw another, smaller hand do the same. A young and terribly familiar voice soon followed it. "I'll have one of whatever he's having!"

Almost robotically, Kakashi turned his head to see Arashi sitting on the stool to his right. He stared down at his most dreaded student for several seconds, somehow not quite that surprised. "Why?" he asked, in the flattest, most dried up tone he could manage.

Arashi looked up at him, and Kakashi didn't know if the redhead's honest confusion was better or worse than the mischievous expression he'd been expecting. "Why what?"

Kakashi closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Arashi," he said, tired, "when I said today was a day off, I meant it was a day off for _me_. From you. From _all_ of you. So why?"

Asuma leaned forward to look past his fellow jonin. "Is that him?" After getting a closer look, he smirked. "Huh. Kid, I've heard a lot about you."

The jinchuuriki seemed to shrink into himself a little. "Oh? What did you hear?"

"Somethin' 'bout beatin' the crap out of Kakashi?"

That got Arashi to lean forward as well, sharing a grin with the man. "Oh, man, it was _awesome_. You should've seen his face! It was, like, twenty percent shock and eighty percent wanting to puke his guts out!"

The jonin laughed, nudging Kakashi hard on the shoulder. "That's damn classic, kid! Name's Asuma!"

"I'm Arashi!"

_And I'm officially screwed,_ Kakashi thought, staring straight ahead as the two conversed in front of him. The possible consequences of this were already starting to give him a headache.

Two glasses slid to them on the counter, and both Asuma and Arashi caught one each. The jonin went ahead and drank up, but just as the genin was about to do the same, Kakashi put his hand over the cup.

"Nuh-uh," The one-eyed jonin said, taking the glass for himself.

"C'mon, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Nope."

Arashi leaned on the counter, his cheek resting on his hand. "You're a real stick-in-the-mud, you know that?

"I know." Kakashi set the now empty cup down, making Arashi do a double take. "And you're too young for this stuff, so I'm gonna go ahead and take some responsibility as your sensei."

Asuma set his own cup back down on the counter, letting out a small burp. "He's right, kid."

"What ever happened to 'old enough to kill, old enough to drink?'"

Kakashi gave his student his patented deadpan stare. "Everyone collectively realized how incredibly stupid that saying was after applying even the most basic logic." The jonin then snapped his fingers in front of Arashi's disheartened face. "Hey, focus. Tell me what you want already."

Becoming serious, Arashi gulped, turning on his seat to face Kakashi fully. "So… I've been thinking…"

"… Yes?"

"Um… I was just thinking that maybe you were possibly, kind of, well… right."

"As always," Kakashi said, nodding. He then realized he had no idea what Arashi was talking about. "Wait, why was I right again?"

Fidgeting, Arashi shifted in his stool, his hands rubbing against each other and his eyes avoiding Kakashi's. "About how I can't keep depending on my Flicker Burst so much. You were right." The jinchuuriki frowned down at his dangling feet. "It's my first technique, and it's pretty strong, so I guess I didn't think I'd need anything else. Then Jishono went and wiped the floor with me."

"It _was_ pretty one-sided for a good bit there, wasn't it?"

The worst part was that Arashi couldn't even deny that. "Anyway, so I was wondering if you'd, y'know…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Teach me some new techniques, maybe?"

"… Uuuuh…" Kakashi couldn't really fault the kid for wanting to improve, but really… Now? Couldn't this wait until later? Preferably not in the middle of his break?

"I mean, I just figured that, since you're a jonin and everything, you'd know a bunch you could teach me."

"The thing is—"

Asuma chose that moment to interject. The burly jonin threw an arm around Kakashi's shoulders, pointing at the silver-haired man with his other hand. "Kid, if there's _anyone_ who can teach ya, it's _this_ guy right here!"

"I really don't—"

"Hell, he knows a _thousand_ of 'em! Probably more at this point!"

"Asuma—"

"Any situation you think of, he's got a technique for it! You could probably make one up right now and he'll know it already!"

"…. You traitor."

"Please, Kakashi-sensei?" Arashi asked, his eyes pleading. "You can even just teach me the hand seals, _anything_! I'll do whatever it takes to get better!"

…. Kakashi _could_ tell Arashi to fuck off. It was a viable option. But that damn puppy dog look he was getting… Even _he_ wasn't that much of a jackass. _God damn kids, I swear._

The jonin sighed. "Fine, I'll teach you something." Before Arashi could celebrate, he held up a finger. "On one condition," he said, because, come on, he _was_ still Kakashi.

Arashi gave a firm nod. "Whatever it is, I'll do it."

"You have to learn it by the end of the day. If you don't, I won't teach you anything else. _Ever_."

The genin jerked back a little. However, after a moment of thought, Arashi nodded again. "If that's what I have to do."

"Good. Get going to our usual training ground. I'll catch up in a bit."

"Okay!"

The redhead got off the stool and took off, leaving the bar in seconds. Kakashi and Asuma watched him go, then turned back around.

"Don't you think you're being a little too brutal, Kakashi?" Asuma asked, frowning. "One day isn't enough time to learn any technique, even if it wasn't already half over."

Kakashi shrugged, slowly getting off his own seat. "Yeah, I know, but hey, he's the one who took me up on it, right? Not my problem." Digging into his pocket, Kakashi pulled out a few ryo and put them down on the counter. "I'll see you later, then," he said, walking away.

The disguised jonin threw a hand up behind his head. "Tell me how it turns out, ya hear?"

* * *

Sniffing up at the air, Kiba Inuzuka turned a corner, smoothly sidestepping a couple he'd been about to bump into. "So, I heard you guys went on a C-Rank the other day," he said, glancing back at the Hyuuga members trailing after him.

Ko was far too focused on taking in his surroundings with his byakugan, so it fell upon Hinata to respond. "That would be correct," the heiress said, "though I don't recall anyone in my team informing anyone else."

Resting atop Kiba's spiky brown locks, the small white pup Akamaru barked, his nose turning to face an alley the group was about to walk past. The boy reached up to scratch his partner behind the ear before leading the way in. "Sakura likes to keep tabs on your team. Heh, Sasuke could take a shit and she'd probably know about it before he flushed." He laughed, but when it became clear that he was the only one to do so, Kiba coughed into his hand. "Uh, so how was it? Looks like it was pretty rough."

Hinata immediately straightened up, hiding any hint of a limp. Kiba flashed her a smile, his fanged teeth almost glinting in the darkness of the narrow alley. "Must've been some strong bad guys if _you_ got that beat up."

Seeing that he wasn't getting any meaningful conversation from her, Kiba shrugged, walking out the other side of the alley and into the open street once more. "Anyway, how'd you lose this kid, Ko-san?"

Stumbling a step, Ko deactivated his byakugan, reaching up to scratch at the tip of his nose. "Ah, well it's a bit embarrassing…"

"I'd also like to know how this came about," Hinata said, her mere words triggering a primal fear in the branch family member.

"Hah… Well, you see, Hanabi-sama asked to go to the ladies' room. Of course, I gave her the necessary privacy, but when she took longer than I expected…" Ko tugged on his collar, turning his face away from Hinata's unbreakable gaze. "Let's just say she was beyond my byakugan's range."

"So you got duped by a kid, huh? Figures." Getting off the beaten path, Kiba led the two Hyuugas into one of the Leaf's more forested sections, one with a barely visible path to follow. "Y'know, this'd be a lot easier if it wasn't just us three. Why not just go and ask—"

"Alert the entire village that its most illustrious clan lost sight of one of its heiresses? I think not."

Kiba's eye twitched at Hinata's interruption. "Hey, I'm just saying—"

"You are merely a necessity Kiba-san," Hinata said. "Please don't question my decisions any further."

Stopping dead in his tracks, Kiba turned and gave his ex-classmate a look that would've made any sensible person at least flinch. His eyes dilated and his mouth twisted into a sharp snarl, the red marks on his cheeks only adding to the ferocity, it was clear to see why he came from a clan like the Inuzuka.

However, Hinata didn't stop walking, and seeing this, Ko didn't either, though the servant was at least hesitant in doing so. Once they walked past him, Kiba took a deep breath, his eyes closed.

A scowl on his face, Kiba reached up to pet Akamaru. "They're lucky it's a little kid that went missing," he said, striding over to catch up with the two Hyuugas.

"How close are we, Kiba-san?" Hinata asked once he got close enough to hear.

Clicking his tongue, the feral genin glared off to the side and sniffed. "Her scent's strong. She's somewhere around here."

Hinata nodded. "Ko."

"Right." Ko blinked, the veins around his eyes protruding and his irises intensifying. Immediately, his head swiveled to his left. "Behind that tree," he said, pointing.

Hanabi peeked from behind the tree, tears running down her cheeks. The moment she did, Hinata dashed over and grabbed her sister by the shoulders. "Are you hurt?" the elder sibling asked, kneeling down to get on the younger's level. "Did someone hurt you?"

"I-I'm fine…"

Kiba and Ko stood back, watching Hinata fret over her sister. She didn't look panicked or worried, but Kiba had to admit, if only to himself, that there was something nice about the sight despite how robotic it was.

Sighing, Kiba let himself smile. "At least everything turned out alright," he said. Looking up at the dog on his head, the Inuzuka gave his partner a thumbs up. "Nice job, Akamaru!" The following bark only made his smile widen.

Turning to Ko, Kiba was about to praise the Hyuuga, but the compliment died on his lips. Eyes wide enough to swallow the world and body trembling, Ko looked set to run at any second. The Inuzuka followed the branch member's terrified stare and came upon Hinata, her sister cowering behind her, with a strange hand seal held out before her.

"Hey, Hinata, what—"

Kiba was cut off by the inhuman shriek that ripped its way out of Ko's vocal chords. The man's hands went up and clutched at his forehead, his fingers gripping so hard they looked ready to dig into his brain. His legs wobbling, Ko fell onto his knees, and when even they ran out of strength, the servant fell fully on his face, curling up into himself, screaming all the while.

The genin stumbled back, lost and horrified. "What in the…" Turning to Hinata, Kiba's eyes widened when he realized that she was the cause. "What the hell are you _doing_ to him!?"

Hinata didn't so much as glance at him. "His punishment," she said, her voice steady. While the branch member writhed in complete agony, Hinata stood with calm indifference, her hand barely tensed enough to hold itself in the seal for the technique. "He's lucky it's me performing it. My father would not be quite as merciful."

"Merciful!?" Kiba began stomping towards the Hyuuga sisters, Akamaru's growls barely reaching his ears over the screams of pain. "You're killing him! Can't you see that!?"

Before he could reach her, Hinata let go of the hand seal. The screams died out, replaced by quiet weeping. Kiba looked over to see Ko, slumped on the ground, tears covering his eyes, snot streaming from his nose, and foam at the corners of his mouth.

Hinata watched it all without an ounce of emotion. "Mercy," she said, even as Ko's strangled cries reached them.

His sight traveling from Ko's pathetic state to Hinata's aloof expression, Kiba stepped away. "You…" His eyes met hers, and in them he saw nothing. "Stay away from me…" The Inuzuka walked backwards, not turning his back on the girl before him. "Holy shit. Stay away from me, you hear that?"

Seeing the boy go, Hinata took her sister by the hand. "Come on, Hanabi-chan. It's time to go home."

The two walked away, and though Hanabi cast her gaze on the downed Ko with a brand new set of tears, Hinata didn't look back.

* * *

"I'm not sure about this."

"It'll be fine, promise."

Ino and Sasuke sat across from each other, crossed legged on a plushy bed with purple covers.

Let it be known that Sasuke had never been inside a girl's bedroom, nor did he ever wish to be. The smell alone was enough to make him gag, the colorful posters plastered all over the walls didn't help, and to make matters worse, every piece of furniture in the room just screamed _Ino_. From the purple beanbags in the corner to the padded chair in front of the mirror to the table full of make up and perfumes and who knew what else.

Unfortunately, Ino insisted that it was the only place they could use and be uninterrupted. Sasuke was sure she just wanted to tell her friends he'd been in her room.

"Let me get this straight," Sasuke said, his shoulders stiff and his hands glued to his knees. "You're going to, what, swim around in my head?"

"Going into your memories isn't that simple, Sasuke-kun. But yeah, basically."

"Can't I just go in by myself?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh, Sasuke-kun. You're so cute, but you don't know what you're talking about. If I don't go with you, you'll probably get lost in your own mind. Or maybe you'd rather be a vegetable for the rest of your life?" Her chin raised, the Yamanaka sent Sasuke a wicked smirk. "Why, you got something in there you wanna hide?"

"Yes."

"Well too bad." Ino reached up and placed her open palm on Sasuke's forehead, making him flinch back. Frowning, she put her other hand on his tense shoulder. "Sasuke-kun, this won't work if you don't relax. Close your eyes."

Hesitantly, Sasuke did as she said. Remembering his training, he slowed his breathing, focusing on the tempo created by the rise and fall of his chest.

"We're gonna have to go in your subconscious and find what you're looking for, okay?" he heard Ino say, her voice soft and soothing. "Whatever happens, keep thinking about the memory you want to remember. Hopefully, it won't take too long to get there. Ready?"

The memory he wanted…

_A flash of red eyes._

"Ready."

**"Deep Mind Reliving Technique!"**

And then Sasuke wasn't in Ino's room anymore. Instead, he found himself in an open yard lit by the sun, surrounded by wooden fencing and some trees and well-kept bushes scattered throughout. Behind him was a rather familiar, big house built with stone walls and a tiled, sloping roof. The more he looked around, the more he recognized his surroundings.

"My backyard," he said, taking a tentative step forward. While everything around him looked real enough, it also gave off a strange, almost ethereal feeling. He felt light in a way, disconnected.

"Your backyard from before," Ino said, coming up to stand beside him.

"From before what?"

Shrugging, Ino made sure to suck up everything she saw. It wasn't like she'd be getting invited over to the Uchiha residence anytime soon, after all. "Who knows? We're in a memory right now. All we have to do is find— ah! There!"

Sasuke's eyes followed her finger, and they found… him. Well, a younger him, from the looks of it.

"You were so adorable back then!" Ino said, her hands clasped together.

Grunting, Sasuke watched as his younger self _stood several meters away from one of the targets carved into the trunk of a tree, multiple shuriken in each hand. In one swift movement, Sasuke sent a handful of shuriken flying, and in another, his other handful darted out from his fingers. _

_The second barrage crashed against the first, each shuriken hitting another and redirecting its flight. A moment later, the shuriken landed… nowhere near the target._

_Slamming his foot on the grass, Sasuke let himself growl at the offending weaponry. Itachi could do something like this casually at age six, one full year younger than him. And, of course, his brother refused to teach him. Apparently, it was so Sasuke could build character, but he was sure the prodigy was just having fun at his expense. _

Ino glanced over at Sasuke, a wry smile on her lips. "So even the genius Rookie of the Year couldn't get everything in one try, huh?"

"I'm starting to think that being braindead wouldn't have been so bad."

_The seven-year-old marched over to the shuriken scattered on the ground and began picking them up. As he finished up, one of the bushes nearby began to rustle. With instincts that bellied his training, Sasuke threw one of the shuriken at the disturbance, getting two distinct squeals in response._

_"What— Ugh, you two again?" Sasuke stared at the bush expectantly, and when nothing happened, he closed his eyes and sighed. "I know you're there, so just come out already before I almost kill you again."_

_After some more rustling, two toddlers walked out from behind the leaves. They looked strikingly similar, the only truly notable difference being the length of their hair. Whereas one of them had a mop of curly hair barely reaching past his ears, the other had a braid going past the nape of her neck. _

It was hard not to notice the way Sasuke closed in on himself. Chin lowered, arms crossed, head turned away, the works. Not that it was unusual of him, but Ino wasn't a Yamanaka for nothing.

"Who are those two?" she asked.

For a moment Ino thought he would just ignore her, but she got her answer soon enough. "Meiwa and Itami. My cousins." He was about to say something else but stopped himself. "Well, not _really_. We weren't directly related, but still. Family."

It was clear to see. Ino could see that they had some of the same features as Sasuke, and their raven black hair was a giveaway too. It was actually a bit startling to see another Uchiha after so long, even if they were just a figment of Sasuke's subconscious. "Family, huh…"

_Standing in front of Sasuke, the two bowed at the same time, both of them nearly shaking from the shock of almost getting impaled by a pointy throwing star. _

_"We're sorry!" Meiwa said, his nose beginning to drip snot._

_Itami frantically nodded, messing her hair up even further than it already was. "It won't happen again, Sasuke-nii!"_

_"You say that every time," Sasuke grumbled, putting the shuriken away in the pouch dangling from his belt. "I'm gonna have to tell your parents if you don't stop sneaking around."_

_"Nooo!"_

_"We're already grounded!"_

Sasuke felt a pull on his arm.

Snapping out of his trance, he saw Ino pointing at the house behind them. "We should keep going," she said.

The girl began tugging him towards the door until Sasuke began following her willingly, though his eyes kept coming back to his younger self berating those kids. Noticing this, Ino pulled at him even harder, her hand already on the handle of the door.

The Uchiha scowled at her, but she returned his scowl with her own. "Don't give me that look," she said, sliding the door open. Before she stepped through, Ino nodded at the image they were leaving behind. "This is why I'm here. If you don't keep moving, you could stand there and look forever…"

"Hn." He shrugged off the hand on his arm, then sighed at the eyebrow she raised. "Okay, _thank you_."

"You'll appreciate me one day, Sasuke-kun."

"Keep deluding yourself."

They both walked into the house, but instead of ending up in Sasuke's living room like he'd been expecting, they found themselves on the shore of a pond. It was respectable in size, surrounded by the usual Leaf Village foliage, with a small pier that went out to about a quarter in.

Sitting at the edge of that pier, a fishing pole held in each of their hands, were a younger Sasuke and a chubby, middle-aged man.

"Another memory?" Sasuke asked, walking over to the pier to get a closer look. "This pond's in the Uchiha compound… Are we supposed to be taking this many detours?"

"I'd be surprised if we didn't," Ino said, following after him. "The subconscious mind isn't exactly well known for being direct."

_"How long do we have to sit here, Horo-oji-san?" Sasuke asked, wiggling the fishing pole and stirring the water with the line._

_Horo smiled down at the restless boy, his eyes wrinkling behind his circular glasses. "You wanted to catch a big fish, didn't you?"_

_"Yeah!"_

_"Then you're going to have to be real patient, Sasuke-kun," the man said, chuckling at the boy's following groan. "Just as well that you learn to sit still now. As far as I know, you ninja types have to be super duper patient."_

_"I guess you're right," Sasuke said, his shoulders slumping. _

_"You won't catch anything with that attitude!"_

_"Alright, I get it."_

Watching all of this, Ino couldn't help but look over at Sasuke's reaction. There was none. "Do you… miss them? I mean," the Yamanaka slapped herself on her forehead, "_of course_ you miss everyone. But do you—"

"Let's just keep going," Sasuke said, looking down at the water. He didn't have a reflection, which he supposed made sense. Somehow.

"… Right." Ino shook her head, then looked down at the water as well. "This way, then." She walked right off the pier. Her body didn't fall into the water as much as it went through it, not even a ripple appearing to announce her exit.

With one last look at the scene he'd almost completely forgotten, Sasuke stepped into the water.

When he felt himself coming back, Sasuke huffed at what he saw. His family sitting down for dinner, with a couple of guests. "How much longer is this going to take?" he asked.

Ino, her hand on her hip, sent him an inquiring look. "I don't know. You sure you're concentrating on the memory you want?"

"It's kind of hard to forget."

_"Why don't you believe me?"_

_Arashi rolled his eyes, doing his best to ignore Sasuke's constant pushing and nudging. He wiped his mouth with his napkin. "No one's _that_ fast."_

_"Who's not that fast?"_

_The jinchuuriki dropped his napkin on the plate, looking up in surprise at the man across the dinner table. Apparently he and Sasuke's conversation wasn't as quiet as they'd thought. "Um… You…"_

_Shisui Uchiha raised an eyebrow, sliding his plate away from him. "Wanna bet?"_

_Leaning forward, Sasuke gave his cousin a smirk. "Shisui-nii, go to the Hokage Monument and back!"_

_The teenaged Uchiha shrugged. "Okay." They sat there for a second. "Should I go again?"_

_Arashi narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. "Yeah right."_

_"Boys, that's enough."_

_"Sorry, Mikoto-san."_

_"Sorry, mom."_

_"They started it."_

Ino tapped on Sasuke's shoulder to get his attention.

"Yeah, I know," Sasuke said. His eyes stayed glued to the scene, though. He— his past self at least— was already bickering with that crazy cousin of his, with Arashi and his parents watching on in clear bemusement.

"You and Arashi were pretty good friends back in the day, if I remember it right," Ino said. "Must be weird, being in the same team."

"I don't mind it." Casting his eyes downward, Sasuke turned away. "Let's get this over with."

Nodding, Ino led Sasuke out the door, and before they knew it, the two found themselves in an entirely different place and time.

It was dark, the room they were in illuminated only by the moonlight coming through the windows. It was eerie enough in and of itself, and the silence they were shrouded in only made things worse. But what immediately caught both their attentions were the bodies.

Ino let out a strangled gasp, her hands coming up to cover her lips. Sasuke only looked on, his mouth set in a thin line.

_"Mom… Dad… Everyone… Why…." Sasuke's head whipped up, eyelids overflowing with tears, his face half covered in blood that wasn't his. "Why, Itachi-nii!?"_

_The silhouette standing over the bodies of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha set its glowing red eyes on the boy hunched over on the floor. "To test my strength."_

His body tight, Sasuke walked past Ino and towards his younger self. He ignored everything around him, his mind blocking out the memory even as his subconscious pushed it on him. There was no need to relieve what happened here. He knew it all. All but one crucial detail…

Standing before the boy that he was, Sasuke looked into his own eyes, and it all became clear.

_Sharingan. _

* * *

_Tiger, ox, tiger, rat,_ **"Water Style: Water Bullet!"**

Arashi puffed up his cheeks, filling them fill up with water, and flared his nose, ready to spit out the liquid ball of destruction…

… Only to have that same liquid shoot out his nose instead. Spluttering, Arashi slumped over, a fist thumping his chest, and coughed out the water he'd generated.

Kakashi, sitting up against a tree with his trusty book in hand a few meters away, reached up to scratch an itch under his mask. "A little late on the trigger there, champ."

The jinchuuriki spat on the grass and cleaned up his face with his shirt sleeve. "I thought I had to let it build up," he said, reaching down for his water bottle. It wasn't necessary for the technique he was learning, but it never hurt to stay hydrated. Taking a gulp, Arashi exhaled. "Ugh, I think I threw up a little there. Not cool, man."

Looking up, Kakashi spotted the sun through the leaves and branches. "The day's already almost over. Only a few minutes hours before sunset and you're pretty much where you were when we began."

Grunting, Arashi capped his bottle and threw it aside. "I'm close to getting it. I can feel it."

"Your insides getting barfed out? I can feel it too."

Rolling his eyes, Arashi brought his hands together. "Wow, Kakashi-sensei, how supportive of you." The genin went through the signs. **"Water Style: Water Bul**luhgh—"

Seeing his student hacking up on his hands and knees filled Kakashi with a sort of catharsis. "You brought it on yourself. This is what you get for dragging me here."

Wiping his mouth with his arm, Arashi wordlessly got back up and prepared to try again. Kakashi considered this, and after his student failed and got reduced to a spluttering mess once more, he marked and closed his book, stuffing it in his back pocket.

"Alright, what's the deal with you, then?" the jonin asked.

Arashi raised an eyebrow. "What're you going on about now?" The genin brought his hands together, did the appropriate seals, puffed his cheeks, and spat out a small ball of water. "Yes!"

"That was just spit. Nice try though."

"Damn it…"

Getting on his feet, Kakashi crossed his arms. "And what I mean is, if you really wanted to get stronger like you said, well, you've got a pretty foolproof strategy already with the demon fox trapped in your gut."

That caused Arashi to pause in his next attempt. "…. I dunno what you're talking about."

"Arashi, I know for a fact that Hokage-sama talked to you about the Nine-Tails." Arashi began squirming under his scrutiny, which only served to confirm what Kakashi already knew. "I also know he told you that the seal allows you to harness—"

**"Water Style: Water Bullet!"**

This time, the water trapped in Arashi's mouth came back down, and the genin swallowed it all by accident. "Gah…" the redhead placed his hands on his knees, slouching forward. "… I don't wanna depend on that fox for anything. That's all."

Kakashi frowned, shaking his head. "You said you wanted to get stronger, whatever it takes."

"Yeah." Arashi straightened up, his thumb coming to tap his chest. "_I_ wanna get stronger. _Me_." They locked eyes. "Plus, weren't you the one who taught me that I can't depend on any one thing? If I start relying on the Nine-Tails like I did with my Flicker Burst—"

"Except it's not the same," Kakashi said. "Arashi, you're a jinchuuriki. Whether you like it or not, that's what you are."

Arashi looked at his sensei for a while longer, but eventually turned away. Getting into position, he brought his hands up, preparing himself for another try. "You're wrong," he muttered.

"Hm?"

"I said you're wrong." Closing his eyes, Arashi focused on his chakra. It was vast, too big for even him to explore, but at its core he could feel it. The small spark that could overwhelm his coils in the blink of an eye. "I'm not a jinchuuriki. I'm a ninja."

Opening his eyes, Arashi flashed through the four seals. **"Water Style: Water Bullet!"** And out from his mouth, like a great typhoon, he released his technique…

… in the form of what could barely be considered a stream of water, much less a ball. Still, the sight made Kakashi groan and Arashi himself pump a fist. It was pathetic, but no technique was ever perfect on its first successful attempt.

His smile wide, Arashi looked up at Kakashi's grouchy face. "This thing inside me doesn't have anything to do with who I am. I'll prove it to you too, one day." His arms at his sides, Arashi bowed. "So please teach me more, Kakashi-sensei!"

A sigh leaving him, Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "I guess a deal's a deal, huh?"

Seeing the boy whoop, Kakashi couldn't help but be amazed at the sponge that Arashi had turned out to be. _Minato-sensei wasn't kidding when he said the kid's got a knack for this kind of thing._ His thoughts coming back to the Nine-Tails, Kakashi's frown deepened. _Though I'm not sure that's a good thing right now. Just don't make me regret this, Arashi._

* * *

Dressed in floor-length silk robes and sitting on a soft, cushioned chair, Hinata was more comfortable than she'd been in days. An extended visit from the Hyuuga healers had fixed her up, and a quick bath had gotten rid of the dirt and grime that had been covering her for the last couple of days.

For his part, Hiashi was glad his daughter was looking more presentable than she had when she walked into his room a few hours before. Unfortunately, the current talk she had forced on him wasn't quite as relieving.

"You knew this was coming, Hinata," the clan head said. He sat perpendicular to Hinata, a small table resting between them. "I don't understand why this comes as a surprise."

"Forgive me, father. I must have lost track." Hinata, her back as good as new, could finally take on the straight posture that had been drilled into her since infancy. "We haven't discussed this in some time."

Reaching for the tea set on the table, Hiashi sent his daughter a sharp look. "And as I have said before, there _is_ no discussion." He took a sip from his drink, his movements as smooth and calm as ever, and set the cup back down. "As the future head of the clan, you must understand that this is part of our tradition."

"I do understand," the heiress said. Her own tea sat untouched, growing colder by the second. "But does Hanabi-chan? And to tell her so soon—"

"A regrettable accident," Hiashi said. He stood, walking around his bed and up to the intricately carved cabinet on the other side of the room. It was filled with mementos, from pictures in polished frames to marble figurines to old, worn ninja gear. "It seems as though Hanabi has taken up quite the unscrupulous hobby." The man scoffed, picking up and examining one of the framed pictures. "Eavesdropping. Surely, her mother would not approve."

"I don't suppose she would approve of this tradition either," Hinata said, watching as her father nearly dropped the picture in his hands.

Letting out a long breath, Hiashi put the picture back in its place, his eyes trailing over the woman depicted in it for only a brief second. "You might not believe me, but I do understand your position." He turned, facing the genin fully. "Once, I myself was faced with the same unpleasant reality. My father, his father, his mother, and her father have all been through the same hardships. I know full well that it is anything but easy."

Hinata stood then, stepping towards the door. "You say that as if _we're_ the ones suffering."

"We are." The clan head shook his head, not moving to stop his daughter from leaving. "Your sister, my daughter, will be given this burden. It will not be pleasant for any of us." Hinata slid the door open, and Hiashi's voice only got louder. "But it has been done for generations before, and it will continue to be done generations after. Are you willing to accept that?"

One foot out the door already, Hinata paused. Not turning around, the heiress tightened her grip on the door's frame, ready to close it behind her. "Of course I am. There is no other option, is there?"

Hiashi heard his daughter walk away, and when her footsteps stopped reaching his ears, he sighed. That night, he slept facing away form his cabinet.

* * *

The walk home had been uneventful. The sun had already set, and the Village Hidden in the Leaves was shrouded in night, with only the lampposts and the crescent moon to light the streets.

Sasuke opened the door to his house with a grunt, his arm still somewhat sore. Instead of turning the lights on the moment he walked inside like he usually did, the Uchiha left them off, his eyes now more than able to lead him through the darkness.

_I'm no psychologist. Uh, not a professional one anyway….._

Reaching his room, Sasuke went about putting on some pajamas and throwing his dirty clothes in the laundry bin hanging from the wall. He went in the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and then just _stared_. Right there, looking back at him, were his own red eyes. A single tomoe swirled around each of his pupils.

_But, Sasuke-kun…. I can't help but wonder…._

Some part of him was disappointed in himself. After all that time, after all that training, after all that _doubt_, for his eyes to have been locked off from him because of something as meaningless as _trauma_. What had Ino said? Mental blocks in his psyche? Ridiculous.

_Have you…. Have you taken any time to actually grieve?_

Blinking, Sasuke watched his sharingan dissolve into the coal black eyes he was used to. He went back to his room and, after a good stretch, went to bed. Pulling the covers over him, Sasuke reflected on these new eyes of his. They truly did make everything clearer.

Grieving could wait. He would have all the time in the world to grieve after his goal was completed. He would have all the time in the world to do anything. And with these new eyes of his, he was one step closer.

Sasuke drifted to sleep, dreaming of a time when his home wasn't his alone.

* * *

**Omake: Golden Linings**

Dear Arashi-san,

I hope this gets to you. Mom says it will, but you never said what your family name was, so I don't really know.

Everyone's working really hard to fix the mines, especially that giant hole in the middle of town, but it's going really slow. You guys sure messed it up! Seigo-san keeps telling us that we can finish it by next month, but I'm starting to think it's gonna take us all year.

No one's all that mad, though. We're all building better houses for everyone too, and actual roads, and all sorts of new stuff! I think we're gonna get streetlights and everything! It's too bad, since now playing hide and seek at night won't be as much fun, but all the grown ups are happy about it so I guess it's a good thing.

There's bad news too. That spiky guy got out of jail! No one's seen him, but everyone was really scared for a while. The mayor's still in there, so at least one of them didn't run away yet.

I really want everything to stay like this! One day, I'll get strong like you so that everyone can keep being happy! I think I can let Seigo-san take care of it for now though, since I can't do it yet. But one day I will!

Thanks a lot!

Shoki

P.S. This is Shoki's mother. I'm very grateful to you and your team, but can I ask for a favor? I'd really appreciate it if you could get Shoki to stop doing so many dangerous things! He keeps trying to run up walls for some reason!

XxXxXxXxXxX

Shoki,

It's great to hear that you're all doing so well! I was kinda worried about all the collateral damage, but I guess it all turned out for the best.

About Jishono, I don't think you have to worry about him anymore. He's crazy strong, so I'm not that surprised he escaped somehow, but I don't think revenge is really his thing. That's probably good for both of us.

I'm glad you all think I'm so cool, because I wasn't supposed to do any of that stuff. Our team's reputation kinda went down the drain to be honest! Apparently it's hard to trust a team that screwed over the guy who was paying them. We'll be lucky if anyone hires us for a mission ever again! I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

And dude, you have to stop worrying your mom with all the ninja stunts. If you really want to get stronger, do some push-ups or something.

Not a hero,

Arashi

P.S. Don't worry about my family name. Just don't. Seriously.

* * *

**AN:**

**And so we keep powering through. Hopefully this one wasn't a slog to read, because it was kind of a slog to write, at least at certain points. The Arashi stuff was generally easy, but everything else was a real pain to get through, which really sucks because it's not like I **_**didn't**_** wanna write.**

**I guess it's just because this entire chapter's basically setup. It's all setup, especially in regards to Hinata. No action at all. That's all probably coming up later on, though, so that should be fun.**

**Oh, and I guess I'm expanding the cast slightly. Not sure how much focus the side characters are gonna receive, but hey, at least they're in there. It all really worked out too, so I don't feel like I just shoved a bunch of unnecessary characters for the hell of it. **

**Review! Try to guess what the chapter title means! It's really deep, yo.**

**Next time, there's a timeskip, someone gets engaged, and Hinata learns people skills. **


	10. A Look Inward

Merry Post-Christmas everyone.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: A Look Inward**

* * *

"Again."

Hanabi only huffed out her nose before sliding the long parchment before her a few centimeters to the right, taking the long sleeve of her white kimono with one hand, and using the other to dip a thin brush twice on a tray of ink set up on the table. With practiced monotony, she got to work, the black-tipped writing instrument sliding along the surface of the paper with a fluidity that only came from years of experience.

Hinata looked on from her position, kneeled across from her sister on the other side of the table. The room they were in was stacked with shelves and books of all sorts, their clans own little private library, furnished with the same sleek, spotless wood as the rest of the compound, the sunlight breaching through the wide window behind the elder sister reflecting off the floors and walls.

"There's no need to feel frustrated, Hanabi-chan. Just a few more minutes."

The little girl pouted, dipping her brush again before continuing her ministrations. "I thought getting home was supposed to be easy, with a bunch of breaks and stuff." She cringed, realizing that in her complaint she'd gotten distracted and accidentally began the wrong kanji. She glanced up at her sister, hoping that her mistake had been missed.

It hadn't. "You must've forgotten what family we're a part of," Hinata said, closing her eyes as Hanabi grumbled and slid the parchment a few more centimeters before starting again. "What do you plan to do after this? Not another attempt at that tree in the garden, I hope."

"Ko wouldn't let me after last time anyway," Hanabi said, feeling the bruise on her lower back. It wasn't a very long fall or anything, but the root she'd landed on had more than made up for it. "I dunno… Oh!" She smiled, pointing her brush at the elder sister, dripping some ink on the pristine table. "Nana-chan told me about an ice-cream shop her parents took her to yesterday, and she said it had like a hundred flavors! Wanna come, Onee-sama?"

Hinata just stared at the girl kneeling across from her until her sister gave her a sheepish smile and went back to work. "I apologize, but I already have plans today."

Hanabi frowned. "Another one of those team bonding things?" she asked, and when her sister didn't answer, she knew she was right. "Not fair. You're always with them anyway."

"Kakashi-sensei was very insistent that a team should spend time together outside of a work environment to maximize comradery. It was a very sensible theory." Hinata turned her head to the side, examining some of the books stacked on the shelf next to her as her sister let out a snort. "Also, Arashi wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed."

"What an annoying guy." Hanabi growled when she messed up again. "You should do something about him, Onee-sama. Beat him up or something."

"I do. On a nearly daily basis. Unfortunately, he seems to appreciate it." Hinata's fingers trailed along the spines until she stopped and pulled a book out. "I fear I may have become Team Seven's hand-to-hand test dummy."

"And it has to take all day?"

Hinata's hand paused partway into flipping a page. "You seem very troubled by this. I assure you, Hanabi-chan, our family name has yet to be sullied by such a close quarters incompetent."

"Uh…"

"Arashi has become very well acquainted with the dirt by now."

"That's… not really… Never mind."

Head cocked sideways, Hinata looked at her sister, a strand of hair coming to fall across the ridge of her nose. "Oh, forgive me. What is bothering you, Hanabi-chan?"

"I just…" Hanabi's frown deepened, her hand stuck in place. "… I just want to spend more time with you Onee-sama, before—" She cut herself off, then growled, slashing at the parchment in wild abandon once, twice, three times, covering up all her progress. When she ran out of ink, she stopped, shaking hand laying the brush to rest on the table.

Hinata saw all this without so much as a twitch. "Hanabi-chan—"

"Sorry," the younger sister said, head bowed. "I made kind of a mess…"

"It's alright," Hinata said, laying the book on her lap, eyes closed again. "In any case, I think that's enough for now. You're free to go." Strangely, the words felt somewhat off coming out.

"Thanks." Hanabi stood up and, after a moment of hesitation, she bowed to her sister. "Excuse me," she said, walking away shortly after.

The remaining Hyuuga sat there in silence for a few more seconds, eyes till closed, before she brought a hand up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "It's not very proper to eavesdrop, as I'm sure you already know."

A boy around her age walked out from behind the bookshelf, hands clasped behind his back, long, dark brown hair swaying as he did so. The moment he walked into view, Hinata fixed him with her gaze, the veins around her eyes pulsing before she deactivated her byakugan.

"My apologies, Hinata-sama. I merely happened to be passing by the next aisle over and couldn't help overhearing," he said, bowing low. "It is unfortunate to see Hanabi-sama under such distress. I wonder what could possibly be troubling her."

Hinata just stared at the top of his bowed head before she picked her book back up, picking back up from where she left off. "I hope that wasn't a hint of sarcasm I heard, cousin."

"Of course not, Hinata-sama. Forgive me for my ignorance."

"Such passive aggressiveness isn't doing you much good either, Neji."

"Forgive me again." Neji straightened back up form his bow, looking to the Hyuuga library's entrance, from where Hanabi had walked out moments before. "I suppose it's just because I can understand her situation," he glanced her way, "unlike certain people."

Hinata turned the page. "As much as I would like to show you your place, I can't say such words are unwarranted." It took a second to notice that she was involuntarily re-reading the same line over and over again. "However, you know as well as I do the necessity for this."

"Do I? I wonder." Neji shook his head, turning around in an attempt to hide his distaste, but for all his efforts, a part of it still came through in his voice. "It's amazing in a way. How proud Hiashi-sama must be, that his eldest daughter can feel no pity for his youngest."

With that, Neji left Hinata alone to her reading.

* * *

"Oh c'mon, Hokage-sama! Please?"

His lips curving up into a sheepish smile, Minato finished reading the document in his hand and signed it off, placing it on top of a small pile sitting on his desk. Sliding another page in front of him, the Hokage looked up at the redhead bowing a couple of meters away.

"Sorry, Arashi, but it's completely out of my hands," Minato said, putting the paper on the other pile— this one looming over him— after only a glance.

"The suspension ended like a week ago!" Arashi said. Feeling someone shove his shoulder, the boy was forced to stand upright for fear of losing his balance. He threw Ryuka a deadpan stare, one which she responded to by sticking her tongue out at him, before setting his eyes back on the man behind the desk. "It's been a whole month of D-ranks, man! I'm starting to lose it!"

"Unfortunately, that's not really my fault." Minato leaned back, scratching his head with the back of his pen. "Thing is, your team's built up a… reputation…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He means that no one wants to hire you guys," Ryuka interjected, walking over to sit on the edge of Minato's desk, her notepad held close against her chest. "Think about it. You guys turn on your client on your first real mission, and then you actually get away with it. Not exactly trustworthy."

Arashi took a few seconds to try and think of a comeback to that. He couldn't. "Okay, fine, maybe I could've handled all that better, but still," he turned back to the Yondaime, "there's gotta be _something_. I wouldn't even mind sitting in some shack on patrol or whatever for a couple of weeks."

_Yes, you would_, Minato thought. He sighed, propping one leg up on the other. "Alright, if you insist, there might be a way to get your team out of here. _Maybe_."

Almost jumping up with renewed vigor, Arashi went to set his hands on the edge of the desk and lean over all the papers strewn on it. "What is it?"

At that moment, Minato felt something. It was small and disappeared as soon as he caught on to it, like seeing something out of the corner of his eye, but it was enough to tell that there was something outside his window. Holding back a grumble, the Hokage focused back on the conversation at hand.

"It's actually really simple," he said, deciding to save whatever that was for later. "There's only one thing that can make people give you a chance even if they don't trust you at all."

Arashi leaned over a little more, his eyes narrowing. "What's that?"

"Money." He smiled when the redhead cocked his head. "Missions cost money, Arashi. The only way someone's going to hire you guys now is if they… didn't. So…"

"… So you want us to work for free," Arashi said, voice dry. "Sure, that's definitely gonna work out."

Minato shrugged, pushing Arashi's head out of the way so he could continue his paperwork. "I don't _want_ you doing anything. I'm just saying, if you do a good job with that, it might convince people that you're not actually a bunch of backstabbing freeloaders." He signed off on a paper, placing it in a pile. "But hey, that's just me. I guess you're fine with taking the trash out and carrying groceries for the rest of your career."

"I get it, I get it." Stepping away, Arashi went over to the door. "I guess now I have to convince everyone to go volunteering. That'll be fun."

"Good luck, Red-kun!" Ryuka called out after him, to which Aashi responded with a half-hearted wave before walking out of the office. Chuckling, the assistant stood from her spot on the desk. "I thought he was gonna die of boredom around here. I'm serious, the kid's been getting paler and… Minato-sama?"

Ryuka turned to her boss, only to see him on his feet and staring rather intently out the window. Raising a brow, she walked over next to him and stared off as well. "It's a nice day out and everything but—"

"You can come in now, Jiraya," the Hokage said, arms crossed.

The window slid open seemingly on its own, and as if forming from thin air, a large man with long white hair and a grim expression appeared perched on its frame. "Hokage-sama," he said with a stiff nod, stepping down into the room and closing the window behind him.

Taking a step back, Ryuka looked between the two men, feeling rather out of place. "I'll… go bring you two some tea…. or something."

Minato and Jiraya waited for her to leave the room in silence, and when it was clear they were alone, the Yondaime cleared his throat. "It's been a while."

"You should sit down for this one," Jiraya said.

"That serious?" Minato asked, swiveling his chair over and sitting on it as requested.

Jiraya went to lean against a wall, barely facing the Hokage, and took a deep, long breath. "Tsunade's gone missing."

* * *

"Okay."

"I agree."

Arashi's arms slacked, one coming to rest on the counter next to him and the other hanging by his side. "Okay? Just like that?"

The smell of boiling soup and the light fog that accompanied it drifted out of Ichiraku Ramen. The genin of Team Seven sat at the stall, their feet dangling from their stools and their meals being rapidly consumed. At least, that was the case for all but Arashi, who could barely swallow the noodles down.

As for Sasuke, he hummed in content as he gulped down the last few drops of miso from his boil. Breathing out the warmth that had formed in his mouth, he gave his redheaded teammate a lazy glance. "Yeah, it's been too long since we had a real mission. I'm tired of all the kiddie stuff too, you know."

Scratching the back of his neck, Arashi pushed his own bowl in front of Sasuke, who took it without question and began eating it away. "Well duh, but don't you care about not getting paid?" the jinchuuriki asked.

"Hn. I'm filthy rich. I couldn't care less."

On Arashi's other side, Hinata set her chopsticks down on the expertly folded napkin next to her food. "I find it more important to gain more experience in the field than to manage our finances." She turned in her seat, facing her two fellow genin. "Also, I'm even more rich than he is. Though it's understandable why you would be worried, Arashi, seeing as how your own living conditions aren't as ideal."

Closing his eyes, Arashi reached over and lightly bonked Hinata on the head. "Oi, friends aren't supposed to bring that stuff up so casually!" Bringing his hand back, the redhead used it to hold his chin. "… I think…"

"I'm just glad we can finally get serious again. It's been a long month," Sasuke said. He took a sip of water, then scowled at Arashi as he put the cup back down. "No thanks to you…"

Leaning back, Arashi brought his hands up. "I said I was sorry like twenty times!" he said, giving the Uchiha a sheepish smile. Huffing, Sasuke looked away. "Anyway, I guess all that's left to do is ask Kakashi-sensei." Seeing that his teammate's mood only worsened at that, Arashi did his best to chuckle. "Ah… Sasuke?"

Cupping her mouth, Hinata leaned forward. "I presume he's unhappy because the chances of Kakashi-sensei saying yes are astronomically low," she whispered to Arashi.

"Yeah, I got that."

The Uchiha waved his hand up. "One more, Teuchi-san!"

"Comin' right up!"

Seeing the look his teammates were giving him, Sasuke shrugged. "What? It's good, and if we're going to be doing this, I want to have a full stomach first."

* * *

"Not happening."

Arashi glanced sideways at his teammates, then looked back at Kakashi. Their sensei looked about as unbothered as ever, the only strange thing being that he was repeatedly performing picture perfect handstand push-ups as he stared ahead.

The jinchuuriki couldn't even argue with the man at the moment. The mission was important but this was... new to say the least. "... I'm sorry, what's all this about, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Exercise."

Sasuke pointed a thumb at the man pushing up in sync with their teacher not a meter away. "Okay, who's this guy, then?"

"A bigger pain in my ass than you three."

Taking that as his queue, the strange man gave the genin a salute along with the widest smile that could possibly fit on his face, continuing his reversed exertions with a single arm. "Salutations my young juniors! I am the Leaf's Sublime Green Beast of Prey, Might Guy!"

Arashi didn't know what was stranger; The bowl cut, the green jumpsuit, the amount of times a day the man had to brush his teeth, the fuzzy black caterpillars above each of his eyes, or the fact that not once did the man stop pushing his whole body up all throughout his greeting.

The heiress next to him, however, did manage to come to her own decision. Her arm coming up almost robotically, Hinata pointed right at the man's face. "Eyebrows."

Sighing, Sasuke, bonked her on the head. "Sorry about her, we're working on it."

"Anyway, c'mon Kakashi-sensei!" Arashi clasped his hands together. "You've gotta be getting bored of just sitting around and…. Um, you have to be tired of not getting paid as much so you can…. Uh…" He sought help from his teammates only to get Sasuke's shrug and Hinata's blank stare. "Well, we'll stop annoying you about it, at least."

For a brief, almost inconceivable second, Kakashi actually paused. "Ah, nice try," the silver-haired ninja said, continuing his motions. "As if you'll ever stop being annoying. I'd rather just stick to easy D-ranks for the rest of my life, thank you very much."

Having noticed his comrade's moment of hesitation, Guy had proceeded to take his upside-down push-ups to the next level, becoming nothing less than a green blur of motion. "What unfortunate genin to have been picked as your students, my eternal rival!"

"If anything, I'm the unfortunate one."

"Alright, you hate us, we get it." Arashi sat down cross-legged in front of Kakashi, arms crossed just as well. "C'mon, give us something here. What do we have to do to convince you?"

Kakashi closed his eyes and hummed. After a few seconds of this, just when Arashi was starting to think that his sensei felt asleep on him despite the clear impossibility of it, he opened his eyes again, their edges crinkled in a way that spoke of a rare smile.

"I want you to get a picture for me."

Sasuke's own expression took on a dull disbelief, as if a part of him hadn't been expecting what came out of the jonin's mouth, only for another part of him to berate the first for being surprised by it. "A picture."

"A very specific picture."

"… Okay?" Arashi scratched the back of his head. "What is it, then?"

"You know my friend Asuma right? Trench coat guy?"

Arashi remembered the scruffy man, another jonin he'd run into a few times since their first meeting a month before. "Sure, I remember him."

Kakashi nodded his head, an awkward action considering his position, but he made it work. "I have it on good authority that he's skipping out on his team again. Hasn't gotten caught yet, somehow. Well, I want a picture of him."

Hinata turned to Sasuke. "That would be considered 'creepy,' correct?"

"Yes."

"Specifically," Kakashi said, raising his voice over Arashi's snickering, "I want a picture of him the moment that a particular woman sees him goofing off. You might know her as Kurenai. I think she's in charge of some of your old classmates?"

An image of pink hair flashed in Sasuke's mind. "Ugh, yeah, we know how to find her," he said, trying to repress the memory of high pitched squeals and over-applied perfume.

"Good," Kakashi grew serious then, his voice becoming as stoic as his hardened nose bridge. "You know your mission, team. Make sure that Kurenai catches Asuma in the act, and most importantly of all, don't forget to get a good angle on his face. Do this, and I'll accept a C-rank mission!"

Arashi stood, back ramrod straight, and saluted. "Aye!"

Next to Kakashi, Guy had completely stopped in his efforts, simply resting his head on the grass, though his perfect hand stand form never left him. "To so ardently accept a mission so important… To ensure that a slacker such as Asuma gets punished appropriately for his failings as a teacher…"

The genin of Team Seven took a step back as Guy began shaking in place. Kakashi, for his part, never stopped his vertical movements. "Our sensei has some weird-ass friends, man," he whispered, getting a nod from Sasuke.

Guy shook with more and more ferocity. "This… Is… THE VERY ESSENCE OF YOOOOOUUUUTH!"

With what couldn't be considered anything less than a roar, Guy exploded into motion, pushing up and down with such speed that the ground began to quake. The genin took another step back, and then another, and another, until they were well out of sight.

Kakashi, unbothered by the trembles or the building currents of wind that began to buffet him, merely sighed. "I guess I lost," he said, dropping back onto his back and resting his head on his forearms, glancing sideways at Guy, who was still screaming to the heavens. "Tch, can't get a nap in either, huh? This shit always happens."

* * *

Laying next to Hinata on a flat rooftop, arms propped up to see over the edge and ready to duck if need be, Sasuke blinked, deactivating his sharingan.

"Hn. They're there alright," Sasuke said, then sighed. He turned to his long-haired teammate. "Why do I have to be here again?"

It took a second for Hinata to react. "Hm?" His question seemed to register in her mind. "Because, unlike you, Arashi is acquainted with our target and can therefore more easily lead him to the specified location." Hinata blew her hair out from in front of her eyes, looking back at him. "Also, you're more… well suited to confronting this particular group. It should provide for a good distraction."

Sasuke raised a brow, but brushed it off. It seemed even Hinata could get distracted sometimes. "Thanks. I needed a reminder." With a grunt, he got to his feet along the Hyuuga. "Alright, you ready? We need to act natural here."

"I can act natural."

The Uchiha gave her a deadpan look. "Uh-huh."

"I am well versed in small talk."

"… Let's hope this goes smoothly."

The two leapt off the roof onto one of the adjoining alleyways, walking out onto the main street shortly after. They knew that they'd been spotted as planned when a shrill shout reached their ears, and before they knew it, Sasuke was getting glomped by a pink blur.

On the ground, Sasuke breathed in, then out, slowing his heart and doing the best he could to calm his instinctual desire to grab a kunai and do something he was starting to think wouldn't be so regrettable. Beside him, the veins around Hinata's eyes disappeared, her byakugan having been activated on reflex.

"Oh Sasuke-kun! It's been so looooong!"

"Not worth it," Sasuke mumbled to himself, pushing the girl on top of him out of the way. "Really not worth it. Kakashi-sensei was right, D-ranks for life all the way."

"Sakura, who do we have here?"

Hinata and Sasuke, even with the boy pushing himself up off the ground, glanced at each other as the woman who spoke walked over to them, two other genin at her side. Arashi's half-remembered, third-hand descriptions of her weren't very specific, but they were accurate enough: Long, black hair, ruby eyes, and damn attractive. Team Ten's jonin sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, their secondary target.

"Ah, Kurenai-sensei!" Sakura walked in front of the two Team Seven genin and held her arms out in presentation. "I'm sure I've told you about him before! This is the Rookie of the Year from our graduating class, Sasuke Uchiha!" Her eyes then met the girl standing next to the object of her affections. "… and Hinata, too."

"Greetings," Hinata said, bowing her head, while Sasuke gave the other team his own half-hearted wave.

Kurenai looked the two over, her red eyes landing on the heiress. "Hm, Hinata, you say?" Neither of Kakashi's students missed the pointed look she sent to Kiba, who glowered at the Hyuuga from her side along with the white pup sitting on his head. "Sasuke too? Well, I'm sure Kakashi's enjoying the time off, if what I've heard of your team is to be believed."

The jonin's voice and face spoke of nothing but geniality, but Sasuke suspected that there was more to what she said than there appeared. Not to mention how Kiba looked both ready to attack Hinata and run away from her the moment he could. His teammate, for her part, showed no reaction, though that wasn't exactly surprising.

Instead, Hinata simply looked Kurenai dead in the eye. "Our activities have been greatly exaggerated, I assure you," she said, and Sasuke, after years of ninja training and a solid month of spending time with her day in and day out, knew that she was lying. To anyone else, she might've sounded the same as always, but Sasuke managed to pick up on something he never thought he would out of her voice.

Emotion.

Not real emotion, certainly. That was all but impossible. However, there was a clear attempt to insert sincerity where there was none. Hinata never made an attempt to change her tone of voice from the same monotonous timber it always had, except for right then. And that was why Sasuke also decided not to do anything about it. If Hinata was truly lying, then, for whatever reason, they needed Kurenai to believe her in order for their plan to work.

Luckily for them, it seemed to work. Whatever reservations the jonin had about them, the wrinkling of her nose, the sternness of her eyes, seemed to disappear, and Kiba doubtlessly noticed the change in atmosphere as well if his intensified glare meant anything.

"That sensei of yours must be a real hassle," Kurenai said, a smile growing on her lips, one Sasuke stopped himself from mimicking. "Frankly, I sometimes feel like I'm the only jonin sensei from your particular crop with any sense of responsibility. Er, no offense."

The Uchiha waved her off. "It's okay, really. We completely agree."

Hinata nodded, eyes closed. "Truly, all jonin we've come to meet seem rather strange in some manner, bar you of course. I sure hope we don't become quite as eccentric."

_Like you aren't already!?_ Sasuke thought. Seeing Kurenai's amusement at the comment, however, he couldn't help but give it to the girl. While the jonin busied herself with assuring Hinata that no, not all high level ninja were as crazy as they were used to, Sasuke decided that she really was very well versed in small talk after all.

A block away, Arashi walked alongside Asuma, who had his head ducked far into the collar of his coat on account of the busy street, a laugh bubbling from his throat. "I… Ha! No freaking way!"

Asuma gave the genin a smirk, placing his lit cigarette between his lips. "Heh, don't believe me?" He rolled up his sleeve, giving the boy a clear look at his bicep. "Take a good look."

On it, there was a tattoo of a big heart, with a thin, white banner flowing across it. On the banner, the name 'Tora-chan' was written in bold, black letters. The sight made Arashi laugh even harder.

"Dude, why would you ever do that to yourself!?"

"We really took a likin' to that cat, y'know? Protecting her was our highest priority right after the Fire Daimyo." Taking the cigarette in between his fingers, Asuma blew a thick cloud of smoke, eyes closed. "It was embarassin' back when I was a kid, but now? It's good to get a nice chuckle every once in a while, even if it's from yourself."

"That's crazy," Arashi said, wiping a tear away. "And you're telling me all of you guys got one?"

"Yup. And hey, it could've been worse. Kazuma got it right here." Asuma pointed to his left butt cheek, instigating a whole new round of guffaws from the redheaded genin. "Right on the ass. No hesitation. Man, what a guy."

Arashi shook his head, smile covered by a hand. "That's crazy. You sure you guys were as elite as everyone says you were?"

"The Twelve Guardian Ninja were a bunch of certified, grade-A badasses, you brat, and don't you think any different." Hand coming up to rub his chin, Asuma's smile turned from smug to sheepish. "… But I guess we did go a little too nuts sometimes." He sighed, looking down at Arashi, who hadn't stopped cracking up. "Anyway, what did you wanna show me, kid? Not that I got much else to do, but you've been leadin' me on quite the goose chase for the last ten minutes." Bringing a hand up, he adjusted the sunglasses sliding down his nose. "Plus, my old man's really been getting on my case lately. 'If you're not gonna be trainin' your team, at least come help me train your damn nephew.' Feh, as if that brat needs any more spoilin' these days…"

It was then that Arashi caught sight of just the people he wanted to see amongst the crowd. "Oh, don't worry, you don't have to wait for much longer."

"What the hell does that even—" Facing forward, Asuma spotted the same thing Arashi had, and his face paled. "Oh you motherfucker."

Right in front of them, maybe ten or fifteen meters away, Kurenai and her team chatted with Hinata and Sasuke, the former of whom was actually participating and the latter of whom just sort of stood there, staring off to the side with his arms crossed.

Tensing up, Asuma made to book it, but the redhead made sure to grab onto the tail of his coat. When The jonin looked down, eyes dilating, Arashi gave him the sweetest smile he could, his other hand digging a camera out of his pocket.

"Oh, Arashi, there you are."

Hinata sounded matter of fact as always, not convincingly surprised in the slightest, but it didn't really matter anymore. The moment she said it, everyone, from Sasuke to Shino, Kurenai's other genin who had said even less than the Uchiha, looked over at where Hinata was facing.

Kurenai's eyes met Asuma's.

"Is that… Asuma?"

There was a flash of light, followed by a click.

"Hey, guys, I've been looking all over for you!" Arashi stuffed the camera back into his pocket, walking over to his teammates and wrapping an arm around both their shoulders. "Welp, now that we're all together, let's go… uh… Let's go!"

"Very well."

"Hn."

"Great!" With one last grin, Arashi waved at Asuma, who had yet to move from his position in any way despite being completely free to do so, even as Kurenai's confused frown was slowly transforming into a full-on glare. "See ya, Asuma-san! Don't die!"

And then they were gone. Sakura, Kiba, and Shino looked at Team Seven as they walked away, then at their sensei, who was slowly marching over to the coated man who had caught her ire.

With a huff, Kiba crossed his arms. "What'd I tell you guys? That Hinata girl's nothing but trouble."

* * *

Walking along a well-worn forest path, now deep into fall, the Leaf Village barely visible behind him, Kakashi turned another page in his book, and upon reading the first sentence, he made sure to secure the facemask covering his cheeks, not wanting any of his students to see him blush. Speaking of which, the jonin removed himself from his immersion on literature and was brought back to the conversation.

"Dude, Yondaime Mizukage wins hands down."

"That's ridiculous. The Sandaime Raikage would decimate that guy in a second."

Nope, never mind. Kakashi went back to his book, deciding it was far more interesting.

In front of him, Arashi and Sasuke glared each other down as they walked. "Pfft, as if," Arashi said, holding the strap of his backpack with one hand, the other hanging uselessly behind him. "Your guy couldn't beat any of the other kages in one second, especially my boy Yagura."

"I wasn't even exaggerating," Sasuke said, turning to look back on the road. "It would take literally one second. He was the fastest guy in the world for a reason."

Arashi held up a hand. "One," he said, bringing a finger up, "He wasn't the fastest guy. Our Yondaime was, and he still is. Two," he brought up another one, then held his hand up to Sasuke's face, "speed doesn't mean shit when the other guy can put a tsunami in between you and him. Bam!"

The Uchiha slapped the hand away. "It does when that speed comes from being covered in lightning, which, you might not know this, conducts through water." Sasuke then held up his own hand, pointer finger and thumb held up. "Bam," he said, fake shooting the redhead in the face, "end of discussion."

"Uh, nope," Arashi swept a hand in between them, deflecting Sasuke's imaginary bullet. "Water actually isn't a good conductor for electricity, not unless it's got metallic solids in it. Bam, chemistry for the win."

"Conductive substances as in the salt in salt water? Which your precious Yondaime Mizukage uses exclusively?" Sasuke smirked. "Bam, common knowledge for the win."

"Except that if you knew anything about the Yondaime Mizukage, you'd know that he can also use wind on top of water, oh!" Arashi stomped hard on the ground, throwing his hands down and his head up. "Bam for real! Wind beats lightning, bitch! That's it!"

"Hn, whatever." Sasuke shook his head, scoffing. "You're just in denial, as always. We're talking about a guy who took on ten thousand ninja by himself, for _three days straight_."

"Uh-huh, and, hmmm, where is he now?" Arashi leaned forward, hand held up to his ear. "Oh right, he's dead, because those ten thousand guys freaking _killed_ him." Arashi closed his eyes and shook his head, tutting. "A kage who can't even take down ten thousand people. Unbelievable. How disappointing."

"Now you really _are_ being delusional."

"Pfft, as if. Hinata, back me up here. Yondaime Mizukage, am I right?"

The boys turned to the only girl in the team, who walked alongside them on Arashi's left. However, she seemed to ignore them, facing straight ahead. Raising a brow, Arashi made to bonk her on the head, but just before his hand reached her cranium, her fingers flashed up, connecting with his elbow and disabling the entire arm.

Arashi took a step back, his other hand coming to hold the now useless appendage. "Ow! Shit, Hinata! That was a bit excessive!"

Hinata blinked, then looked around, noticing that their party had come to a temporary stop. Even Kakashi was looking at her over his book, and after a second, she brought her hand back down to her side, bowing her head. "My apologies. I suppose you caught be by surprise, Arashi."

"Well that's a first," the jinchuuriki said, rubbing his injured elbow. Shrugging, he began walking again. "Anyway, more importantly, who do _you_ think would win between—"

Sasuke cuffed the other boy on the back of the head, eliciting a surprised yelp. Frowning, he met Kakashi's eyes, then continued along with Arashi, ignoring the redhead's complaints about abusive teammates.

Kakashi just sighed, knowing that, for once, he was expected to do his job. Coming into step beside Hinata, who didn't seem bothered by the recent event at all, he pocketed his book, along with a picture now very close to his heart. _Alright, what would Minato-sensei do in a situation like this?_ Thinking back on his own genin days, he came up with one big blank. _Damn, why Hinata? The other two I could handle, but her? What even goes through that head of hers?_

"There is nothing wrong."

That broke Kakashi out of his reverie. "… Excuse me?"

"You were about to ask, correct?" Hinata fixed him with her eyes, and despite himself, Kakashi did feel himself a bit unnerved, even if it had been a month or so since she became his student and he was an elite ninja who'd seen countless horrible things without even blinking. "Everything is fine. I merely don't speak idiot, so I suppose I couldn't hear what Arashi was trying to say."

"Very funny," Kakashi said, though it came out excessively dry even for him. He then thought about what she said. "Wait, hold on, that was a joke, wasn't it? That was definitely a joke."

Hinata turned back to the road, watching Arashi and Sasuke start up another pointless argument which she decided to ignore. "I can be funny. The nuances of comedy were taught to me at a young age."

"Ah, so you _are_ hiding something." Kakashi nodded, chin held in his hand. At least he finally had some inkling as to what was going on with her. "After all, why would you use such training on a whim? Let me guess, trouble at home?"

The Hyuuga didn't answer, but Kakashi was sure he'd hit it right on the money. She seemed to be doing fine Team Seven-wise, and there was nothing else really going on in her life at the moment as far as he knew. After a few minutes of silence, broken only by Arashi's groan of defeat ahead of them, Hinata finally responded.

"I am above such trivial things."

"Oh, definitely." Kakashi just shook his head, wondering what the hell kind of conditioning the girl must've gone through for her to turn out like this. It really was quite terrifying, how efficient it was. Regardless, Hinata was a human after all. "I'm gonna tell you something most people don't learn until they have a few more years under their belt. Now, those other two are a bit too immature to get it, but I think you're ready."

"I don't care."

Kakashi resisted the urge to twitch his eye. "Listen up kid, because this is important." Sighing, he took out his book, flipping back to where he left off. "There can be a certain kind of strength in weakness. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Basically," he turned the page, "lighten up a little, huh? Would make my job a hell of a lot easier." Reading through a particularly saucy paragraph, the jonin took a deep breath. "Ah… Anyway, it'd do you well to relax a bit. I'm sure our client wouldn't want such a downer on her wedding."

* * *

Rushing through autumn shrubbery, Mui took stock of her situation. Her teammates? Fighting off the enemy somewhere behind her. Or dead. Jumping through a particularly thick patch of branches, she shook her head, loosening the stray twigs that stuck to her hair along with the image of her team dead on the forest floor somewhere.

**"****Decapitating Airwaves!"**

Before she could even think, a thick, pressurized stream of wind streaked past her and hit the branch she'd been about to use as a foothold, blowing the whole damn think off by the trunk. With nothing to land on, gravity took its toll, and Mui fell, limbs flailing, too caught off guard to land in anything but a heap on the grass.

The headband tied around her waist wasn't there for nothing, however. Using whatever momentum she could from her rough landing, Mui rolled onto a crouch, kunai already held in a cross-grip. Her head whipped up, hair flying up along with it, eyes scanning the trees. Then, with a rumble, two hands exploded out of the ground, pouring with sweat and reaching for her.

Having seen what those particular hands could do, Mui kicked off the ground, jumping back, her heart skipping a beat from adrenaline. As soon as she landed back on the ground several meters away, though, her heart skipped again, thanks to the clawing hands that grabbed the sides of her head.

Mui didn't dare move an inch as the arms rising from the ground pulled up the rest. A girl, one a few years younger than herself, dusted off her clothes and sauntered over to her, a smirk playing at her lips.

"Aaaand the trap is sprung! Thank you, thank you," the girl said, taking a bow when she was close enough to Mui. Still bowed, the girl held out her hand. "Now, the scroll please? We already beat the crap out of the other two, so there's no point lying and telling us that you don't have it."

The hands holding her head gripped harder, and with a click of her tongue, Mui reached behind her to the scroll strapped under her overcoat. "Kids are pretty brutal these days, huh?" she said, handing the rolled up parchment over to the girl, who accepted with a flourish.

"Not kids." The hands holding her eased up, and soon enough, Mui could push herself off from the person behind her. Walking a ways off and turning around, she came face to face with spiked up black hair and a dark purple hairband, a musical note etched into its metal surface. "Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Sounds are damn brutal, lady." Those same hands, each with a hole dug into their palms, were aimed straight at her.

"Izo! Hotoka!"

Lowering his arms with a grunt, Izo missed his target's sigh of relief as he turned to his wayward teammate. "Damn it, Zaku, stop cramping my style here," he said, watching as the smaller boy lowered their two captives gently onto the ground, both of them unconscious.

The girl, Hotoka, turned up her nose, arms crossed. "Cramping your style? How old were you again?"

"You're so lucky I don't hit women, dollface," Izo said, giving her a glare which she was more than happy to ignore. Scoffing, he looked over at Mui, who was inching closer to her own team with as much caution as she could muster. "Hey, you can leave now, and take those two bozos with ya."

Mui paused, her gaze on him wary. "You… won't kill us?"

Izo grimaced. "Kill you? That's a bit much, don't you think?"

Just then, they all heard clapping before another woman walked into view from around a tree trunk. Her blue hair flowed freely behind her, held back by a purple headband of her own, also with a quarter note etched onto its front.

"Good job everyone, glad I didn't have to intervene for this one," she said, pulling out a notepad and taking the pencil inserted into its spine with her other hand. "Now help me out here, will you? I need a word that rhymes with 'pendant.'"

Hotoka scoffed, looking down at her nails while Izo hummed in thought. "What about 'attendant?'" he said, snapping his fingers, only to duck under the pencil aimed at his forehead. "Oi, what's the big idea?"

The woman clicked her tongue, another pencil already in hand and scratching against the paper. "When I say I needed a word, I meant a word I could actually _use_. When would I make use of a word like 'attendant?'"

Scowling, Hotoka rolled her eyes. "When would we make use of you on any of these missions is more like it," she muttered under her breath.

"I'll have you know that this is true art right here, my poor, uneducated student," the woman said, flipping a page and carrying on with her writing. "True inspiration can only emerge on the battlefield! You'll understand when you're older."

"Um, Yuu-sensei?"

"Hm?"

Izo, Hotoka, and Yuu all looked to Zaku, who gulped at all the newfound attention. "We… Should we do anything with these guys?" the boy asked, pointing over at Mui and her dispatched teammates.

Mui blinked when she saw that all the attention shifted onto her, and she could feel a drop of sweat make its way down her temple as Yuu, seemingly the leader of her attackers, stared at her for a good few seconds before looking back down at her notepad.

"Nah, let's go back home. I need a more creative space for my work."

"What happened to inspiration on the battlefield!?"

"Oh, Hotoka-chan… so naïve…"

The younger girl's following growls were interrupted by Izo's whistle. "Heads up," he said, arms crossed and eyes on the pigeon flying down to them.

With practiced ease, Yuu put away her notepad and held out a finger. The bird flapped down to rest on it, clawed foot presenting itself to the ninja, giving her easy access to the small slip of paper tied to its leg. Yuu took the paper and raised her hand, sending the pigeon away, before unwrapping the note and reading through it.

Grunting, she crumpled the thing and threw it over her shoulder. "Unfortunately, it seems like we've been proposed for yet another undertaking."

"Another one?" Hotoka said, neck cranking back in misery. "That's like the second one in a row! What, is everyone else on vacation or something?"

"What a model chunin you are," Izo said, grinning at the bird Hotoka flipped him in response.

Yuu clapped her hands together to get her subordinates' attention back. "Alright, you all know how it is. Just business as usual. Let's try to get it over with and then maybe the boss will consider giving us a couple of weeks off. Everyone ready?"

Izo and Zaku nodded, with Hotoka doing the same after Yuu sent her a raised, expectant brow. Seeing this, the older woman jumped up onto the branches, her three students following after her.

Now alone, bar her unconscious team, Mui finally let out the breath she'd been holding in for the last few minutes. Looking around, she breathed out again, and prayed for whoever those Sound ninja would be clashing against next.

Jumping through the branches, Zaku looked to his teacher. "Uh, Yuu-sensei? Where are we going, then?"

"Hm?" Yuu turned, smiling when Zaku bowed his head before their eyes could meet. "Oh, just the next country over. Shouldn't take more than a day or two." Face turning back to look ahead of her, the smile widened. "Actually, none of you have been to Tea Country have you? Beautiful views, truly. Should do wonders for my images. Oh!" Yuu held up a finger. "Before that, we should probably stop and buy something more presentable! We have a wedding to attend after all!"

* * *

**Omake: Jackpot**

A week before, right on the western border of the Land of Fire, a blonde, busty woman sat in front of a slot machine, its flashing rainbow lights lighting up her young, uncomprehending face. Around her, dozens of people shouted in elation, some dancing to the blaring music in the background, with multi-colored balloons raining down upon the crowd.

"Not good," the woman said, nevertheless glued to her seat, a part of her still not believing the shiny 'JACKPOT' in front of her. Her head moved slowly, taking in the people surrounding her. "Sh-Shizune? Where… We gotta get outta here."

Finally, after a moment of searching, the woman groaned and got up, shoving her way through the crowd after bagging as many of the golden coins that had been raining down from the machine as she could. She didn't like it, but hey, she wasn't going to say no either. The people parted like water, one of her arms more than enough to push them away, and soon enough she found herself at the casino's exit.

Going over to the front desk, the woman dropped her bag of coins in front of a startled employee, cracking the wood. "Get me… my money," she slurred, elbows on the table, breasts struggling against her grey blouse. When the employee didn't move, watching her with wide eyes and trying to stutter out some kind of response, she pointed away at a random direction. "_Now!_" she roared, then glanced around her again.

With a quick bow, the bag of coins was taken away, and the woman was left there, leaning hard on the table to keep herself up. After a few minutes, she heard some shuffling next to her, and turning to it, she smiled upon seeing the cause.

Her faithful assistant, pet pig held tightly in her arms. "Ah, Shizune! G-Good! C'mon let's… let's…." The words died on her lips when she saw who was standing next to the other woman, mostly because she didn't recognize who it was. "…. Ah, shit."

Shizune smiled, though it was a bit strained. "Tsunade-sama, I'm sorry, but this man was very insistent about meeting you."

The man beside her took this as his cue. Raising his arms out of his brown robe, he took a step forward. "Heh, let me tell you, finding you wasn't exactly the—"

Tsunade shushed him, her finger held up towards him. He quieted immediately, smiling, but a gulp made its way down his throat. "Shizune… you fool! Don't you _understand_ what happened!?"

Now it was Shizune's turn to gulp. "Tsunade-sama—"

"I just… got a bunch of money! For free! That never happens!" Tsunade pushed herself off the table, swaying a bit before straightening up and walking over to her assistant. "I'm… so… _fucked_! Do you know how much money I'm getting!?" She clamped her hands on Shizune's shoulders, shaking the poor woman back and forth. "Fuckin' _fifteen million ryo!_ That's f-fuckin' crazy!" Letting go of Shizune, who took a step back and began to fix her now haggard hair, Tsunade then turned to face the robed man, looking him right where his eyes would be if not for the bandages covering them. "S-So whatever horrible _shit_ is waiting to happen to me in exchange… It's gotta do with this weirdo!"

The man's smile just widened, but he did take a step back, hand coming up to cover his nose. "Jeez… Been hitting the booze pretty hard, huh?"

"…" Slowly, Tsunade raised a fist. "I should just kill you right now you bastard."

"Okay!" The man backed the hell up, hands coming up between them. "Alright! Let's not, uh… Let's _not_ do that! Okay? Listen…" His voice got low, almost whispering. "I have a proposition for you—"

Tsunade punched him, and the force of it was enough to blow a hole the size of a whale through the wall from the sheer air pressure alone. When she looked at the mess she'd made, with people running around screaming everywhere and neon lights flickering, she smirked. "That should do it."

"Not quite."

Stumbling forward, Tsunade spun around and saw the man casually standing there, completely fine. "…. Eh?"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune ran up beside her, holding her arm before the busty woman could try for another punch and destroy the place even more. "This is serious! And stop demolishing every building we walk into!"

"No, it's quite alright, Shizune-san," the man said, smile wider than ever. Turning to Tsunade, he put up both hands, trying to placate the drunken woman. "I like your spirit, lady. At least hear me out here."

Tsunade huffed, but she did lower her fists. "And why should I?"

"How much was your debt again?" he asked. "Something like… a forty million or so?" He knew he had it right on the money when Tsunade looked away with grit teeth. "Heh, pretty big huh? What would you say if I told you I could pay it all off for you?"

Taking a deep breath, Tsunade held a hand out to Shizune. The younger woman raised a brow, but when her master grunted, she sighed and took out a metal flask, handing it over. Tsunade uncorked it and then took a long, hard swig.

"Ah…" Opening her eyes, Tsunade glared at the man, who only grinned in response. "I'd say… that it's my lucky d-day. Unfortunately."

* * *

**AN:**

**What up? It's been a while. Took a bit of a break there, sorry about that, but I'm back! My motivation problems are always gonna be a problem unfortunately, but you can definitely alleviate that by reviewing!**

**… ****Yes, I did just shamelessly beg for reviews there. I have officially run out of self-respect. **

**Anyway, this is the beginning of the next arc of this story. If you couldn't guess, I'll be focusing on Hinata for the foreseeable future, which I'm sure is good news because everyone seems to like her. That's not to say that everyone else won't be getting some attention, but I'm definitely gonna be placing Hinata front and center for the next few chapters.**

**Also, everyone, please give a warm welcome to the Village Hidden in the Sound! They'll be important too. I won't give any hints, of course, but look forward to it. And don't make any assumptions, because I assure you, these guys are pretty different from how they are in canon. Needless to say, Minato still being Hokage has changes some things.**

**Next time, Team Seven makes some new friends, Kakashi meets an old one, and Hinata has some well-deserved girl time.**

**P.S. For anyone who's interested in some good, Anonymo-approved Naruto fan fiction, check out ****_Consequences_**** by the unknown spirit. Funnily enough, it also starts off with the death of a canonical main character. It's also seriously underappreciated, so give it some love.**


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